escapade
by sorix13
Summary: in the olden days, a prince was never really allowed to find true love. one would only hear of that in a fairy tale. but one prince did. and he'll do anything to keep it.....it's my first uploaded fic! please be nice! although i really don't care....
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

He sat there, staring up at the sky. Really, the night was when he felt the best. It was always so peaceful. Nothing at all bothered him when he was sitting outside in the moonlight. Nothing could bother him while he was outside at night.

So the fact that the bouncing of a ball was currently bothering him baffled his mind. He had no idea why, but he felt compelled to find whoever was bouncing the ball and tell he or she to stop before he threatened them. And he always came through on his threats. He was no pushover.

But he wasn't so sure why the sound annoyed him so much. He heard it everyday. Everyone in the kingdom of Seigaku was crazy about tennis. He heard these sounds everyday. So why did it bother him so much?

Maybe it was the fact that his silence and peace was shattered by the sound. It was alright for daytime when people were expected to be loud and out of control. But at night, everyone was supposed to be sleeping; that's when he decided to go out and play.

Deciding he'd had enough of the sound for one night, he stood up. He figured he should at least see who else was out at such a late hour. He followed the sound, not so much where he was going. It didn't matter though, he'd find his way back. He knew these streets too well.

Finally, he came upon a court that was well away from the town. He hadn't realized he had gone this far from town. He always did things on auto run while he was out at night. He looked around, and saw that there was someone hitting a ball against the wall. He was surprised. He thought that he was the only one to wander about at night and practice against a wall.

He walked up closer without realizing it. He only realized when the person stopped and turned to look at him. "I wasn't aware I was being watched."

"I wasn't aware I wasn't the only one out here." he shot back. Something about that voice sounded very familiar to him.

The man before him shrugged. "This is the first night I've snuck out." He bounced the ball once. "Do you play?"

He scoffed. "Of course, retard." he smirked. "Who doesn't?"

The man didn't seem to mind his remark and smirked before tossing him a racket. "Then play me."

"Does my new opponent have a name?" he asked, walking over to the receiving end of the court.

The man stood poised to serve and smirked. He tossed the ball up. "I'll tell you only if you beat me."

"A challenge to learn your name, huh?" he smiled. "Well, I'll tell you what. I'm going to beat you. You should at least know the name of the person who defeats you, right?" he smirked this time, hitting the ball back, earning a return ace. "Echizen Ryoma, nice to meet you."

It was an agreement. Both played to their full potential. The game lasted at least two hours. At the end, the mysterious man was the loser, and Ryoma was the victor.

The man walked up to him. "I guess I have to tell you who I am, Echizen Ryoma." He extended his hand for a handshake and Ryoma reluctantly took it out of good manners. "Tezuka Kunimitsu."

Ryoma nearly fell on the spot. "Wh-what?" he stuttered. "You mean to tell me you're the Tezuka Kunimitsu, the prince of this kingdom?"

He shrugged. "That's why I was only going to tell you if you beat me. I figured it wasn't likely I'd lose." Tezuka took his racket from Ryoma. "But that was the best game I've had in years, even though I lost. I should thank you."

Ryoma was quiet. "Well, then. You should sneak out more often. You're way more fun to play than Momo senpai is."

Tezuka smiled. "We'll see."

Both looked to the horizon as the sun started to rise. Neither was aware of the time. Both looked to each other.

"Well, I'll see you then?" Ryoma asked as he started to walk down the hill. "Eventually, right?"

Tezuka smiled at him as he watched the boy walk away from him. "Sure." he whispered, even though he knew Ryoma was out of ear shot.

---[---

He suddenly shot up, unaware that he had fallen asleep. And he definitely wasn't expecting a dream like that. He hadn't even thought of that night since...well, since forever ago, really. It'd only been a year, but he hardly ever thought about it.

"Were you sleeping?"

Ryoma turned around to see Tezuka walking up to him. He smiled and jumped off the wall he was sitting on. He slowly walked up to meet Tezuka halfway.

"No, of course not."

"We don't have to play if you're tired. We've been doing this every night for a year. It has to be taking a toll on your body." Tezuka said, concern etched in his voice.

"Well, what about your body?" Ryoma shot back.

"My body has been used to lack of sleep for years." Tezuka answered. "Besides, I'm two years older than you are. My body is different."

Ryoma 'pssht' and held up his racket. "Well, I don't care about that." he said matter-of-factly. "This match is the only thing I have to look forward to all day. You can't take this away from me."

Tezuka laughed. "Sure I can." he said, leaning down to get his face closer to Ryoma's. "And you know it." He leaned in further, causing his lips to touch Ryoma's.

They were locked there for a few moments, stuck in a passionate kiss they hardly ever got to do. The got together every night to play a few games of tennis, and then it was always time for Tezuka to leave for the castle. They both needed some sleep.

Ryoma shrugged when they finally parted. "But if I admitted that, you wouldn't have done what you just did."

"You manipulate people too much." Tezuka laughed. "But I guess that doesn't matter much."

---[---

"Hey, Echizen!"

Ryoma cringed at the voice. Why, oh why did Momo have to show up so damn early? "What do you want, Momo senpai?"

"Come hang out with me today!" he exclaimed, jumping into Ryoma's room. He walked over to a window and pulled back the cheap curtains, letting in plenty of unwanted sunlight. He had just fallen asleep an hour or so ago.

Ryoma's house was simple. It had the essentials. A kitchen, a living area, his bedroom, a spare bedroom and one bathroom. It was all he needed. That and the few furnishings he could afford to have.

"Come on, Echizen!" Momo exclaimed, walking over to the bed Ryoma was curled up on.

"No. Go away. I'm tired. Leave me alone." he growled out from under the blankets. "I'm not going anywhere with you today. I'm sleeping in."

"Oh come on!" Momo whined. "I waited until noon to come bother you! The least you could do is come with me!"

Ryoma shot up. "It's noon?" he asked. He couldn't believe he slept that long. He was supposed to go meet Kaido for a match at one. Well damn. He'd have to get up now. "Damn it."

Momo smirked. "You forgot about your match with Kaido today, didn't you?"

"No." Ryoma answered, pulling the covers back and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "I wasn't planning on sleeping in this late."

Momo walked out of the room to let Ryoma get himself presentable. He donned a pair of regular shorts, a short sleeved shirt, and his usual cap. He wasn't like most of the others when it came to dressing up. He stayed simple while everyone else went on the extravagant side.

He thought of Momo with his style of clothing. He really wasn't simple, but he wasn't extravagant either. He was more in-between with his long sleeved black shirt that seemed a little too tight and his dark blue pants and black shoes. Really, Ryoma would never have worn something so...hot looking. Just looking at Momoshiro made him sweat. But it was just Momo being Momo.

When he was finished dressing himself, he walked outside to where Momo was waiting. The older boy smirked. "You finally ready, sleepy head?"

Ryoma shot him a glare. He had his racket and a few balls in his pocket and he was definitely ready for his match today. "Shut up." he said, walking towards the tennis courts. "And yes, I'm ready. What kind of stupid question is that?"

---[---

The match itself wasn't too bad. As usual, Kaido made him run around with his snake shots. What was knew was the use of his 'boomerang snake'. It was a nice technique, but it made him run everywhere. He was panting and sweating when the match ended.

"Ah, good game, Kaido senpai." Ryoma smirked, extending a hand.

As usual, Kaido just glared down at the younger boy. Briefly taking the hand and shaking it, he turned around and mumbled "One of these days, I'll beat you, Echizen."

Ryoma smirked. "Well, then. I'll be waiting, Kaido senpai."

---[---

"Ah ha ha! I can't believe Mamushi could lose so quickly!" Momo laughed.

"You know, Momo senpai. I think you lost to me faster." Ryoma smirked as the two walked down the dirt path. Living conditions in Seigaku weren't that great, but no one complained about it. Everyone knew there was nothing anyone, not even the king, could do about it. After all, there was a war raging on in the far east, with the kingdom of Hyotei. The people of Hyotei wanted to use the land of Seigaku and all it's residents for it's own enjoyment. And that meant tennis. For some reason, everyone was crazy about tennis. But no one was crazy enough to play all day, almost as if it were slavery.

Ryoma sighed. Tezuka had been extremely exhausted the last few nights they met. He had suggested that they not meet for a few nights, so that they could catch up on sleep. Ryoma could only imagine what the war meant for Tezuka. He's had to do so much for the land...

Ryoma looked to Momo, who was mumbling on and on about how he should treat him as his senpai more often. But that Ryoma didn't care about. He had never once spoken about his meeting with Tezuka with Momo. He wondered if he should or not, since Momo did have best friend status...but what would that mean for Tezuka and himself?

"...Oi, are you paying attention, Echizen?" Momo asked.

Ryoma snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah."

Momo was quiet for a moment, and Ryoma already knew what was going to be asked. "Are you alright? You've been acting strange for awhile now..."

"It's nothing, Momo senpai." Ryoma smiled. "Let's just get lunch. I'm starving!"

---[---

They had just sat down after obtaining a bit of food. Ryoma was about to comment about something to Momoshiro, but he had totally forgotten about his appointment with her.

Seemingly coming from nowhere, a woman pounced on Ryoma. She glared at him as she had him pinned on the ground. If this didn't happen regularly, people around them would stop to watch. But seeing her pounce on anyone like this was normal, especially if she was angry.

"You suck." she whined. "I spent all day messing with that bastards recipes to make them taste good, and yet you don't even show up!"

"Rachel senpai..."

"No! Don't Rachel senpai me, you little snot!" she growled out. "You know I hate even smelling Inui's contraptions...let alone mess around with them!"

"It's not like I asked you to..." Ryoma whispered out, fully knowing where this was headed.

"I know that! But he did!" she yelled, pointing to Momo. She stopped, and Ryoma knew she was thinking. When she manically looked towards Momo, he looked a little...frightened. "Hey, Shiro chan." she smirked. "Since you're the idiot who asked me to make them taste better, try it." She held out a bottle filled with a vile looking green liquid.

Momo glance at the bottle. He knew damn well that he didn't want to even go near that cup. But he thought of the consequences of that, and decided that it was better than having Rachel be pissed at him. Reluctantly, he grabbed the bottle and took a huge swig of it.

Rachel and Ryoma looked on, surprised at finding Momo still standing. When the boy finally swallowed, though, he let out a piercing yell and fell to the floor, passed out. Rachel seemed shocked, but Ryoma was used to it. Inui was known for his alchemy...but he was more known for his vile juices.

Rachel, on the other hand, wasn't so good at alchemy. She was the high mage of their land, but not many knew that. She said that the only people who knew were the king and queen and himself, plus some others she knew years ago. Momo and the prince didn't even know about it. But a lot of people knew her as an ordinary mage. Ryoma wasn't even sure what made a person a high mage, and he didn't really care. But he had learned many a nifty spell from her.

Suddenly, a different bottle was thrust into his hands. He recognized the color and immediately looked horrified.

"Oh don't worry. That one's fine. It only looks like one of Inui's juices. I changed that one's flavoring." She saw his glance. "I drank it myself. I'm not that mean, Ma chan." she smiled. "Don't worry about it."

Ryoma still stared at her. "Don't you have a shop to run?"

She looked shocked. "Oh, yeah! I almost forgot! I'm on break. I closed the shop and I said I'd be back in ten minutes! Damn it!"

Ryoma smiled as she ran off in the direction of her potions and miscellaneous items shop. She sold almost everything that had to do with magic in that one shop. He was surprised at all the little things the walls of that building held.

Thinking about Momo's clothes being too warm, he always thought Rachel's had been too cold. Well, it was perfect attire for summer, like it was now, but during winter...he was surprised she didn't freeze her ass off. She chose to wear shorts that were just a little too short for his preferences [although his preference wasn't woman. He wore a tank top that didn't cover her stomach at all. He'd consider it a bathing suit top if it went just a little bit higher. The shirt had a large collar that hid the bottom part of her face. Occasionally, she'd wear thigh high socks and her add on sleeves. And the fact that she never wore anything other than black sort of bothered him. But only a little.

Looking back to the passed out Momoshiro, he sighed. Turning on his heel, he walked off in the direction of his house.

Really, he wondered why the empire just didn't send a bunch of Inui's juice to the enemy... They'd win the war for sure.

---[---

Tezuka sighed. He had watched Ryoma's match from a balcony. He really wished he wasn't the prince. Then it wouldn't matter where he was. He always, always had to stay in the castle, or else someone would worry. Really, he should just go see that stupid mage. Maybe she'd know a doppelganger spell...

He sighed again, walking away from the balcony. That was a stupid idea. Of course his mother and father would know it was a fake at once. And before they noticed, Fuji and Oishi and even Atobe would notice. It was all a fruitless attempt.

And then there was the matter of Sakuno...that girl he was supposed to marry. When he found out about the arranged marriage, he had immediately informed Ryoma of it. Then boy seemed hurt about it, but he did understand. It wasn't like he loved the woman, after all. It was just something that happened between kingdoms so an alliance would form.

But he still didn't like that look on Ryoma's face. It still haunted his conscious whenever it was inconvenient for him.

"Hey, Tezuka."

Tezuka turned around. Great. Aihara Ryoki. It's not like he hated the other man, he could just be really aggravating at times. And this would be one of those times.

"What is it?"

"Now, now, don't get mad at ore sama." There he went again. It was always 'ore sama this' and 'ore sama that' with Aihara. He always referred to himself as ore sama. It was one of his bad points. "Fuji was looking for you. I guess he didn't think you'd be here."

Tezuka was quiet a moment. "Where is he now?"

Aihara shrugged. "Hell if I know."

Tezuka sighed. He muttered a quick thanks and left Aihara alone in the room. Walking down the halls, he tried to think of where his lead knight would be.

Fuji Syuusuke was of course the strongest knight in all the kingdom. So he was hired by the king and queen, Tezuka's parents, to guard the beloved prince. At first, Tezuka thought it was stupid. The man was no older than he was, and this title was given to Fuji when Tezuka was thirteen, six years ago. He stopped a moment. They would be turning twenty one this year...

But that was besides the point. Suichiro Oishi had been Tezuka's best friend since they were young. He was one of the maiden's sons, and when Tezuka was young, he had been his only friend. But now that they were older, Oishi had become a mage. Tezuka wasn't sure why. Oishi had said something about doing something no one else could, but he wasn't sure what that was.

He'd made another acquaintance through Oishi though. He met Kikumaru Eiji, Oishi's lover. He wasn't sure of the circumstances of which they met and fell in love, but he knew how they must've felt. But he wasn't quite sure why Oishi chose to be with Eiji. They seemed like polar opposites. With Oishi being calm and collected and Eiji being hyper and everywhere. It wasn't a bad thing, he just wondered why.

Aihara Ryoki, on the other hand, he had met a year and a half ago. He always wondered about the timing, since that was when the war with Hyotei stared, but he never actually questioned it. But Aihara showed up without memory of anything. So his parents had decided to take him in, and make him a knight under Fuji's jurisdiction. Fuji nor himself minded, but they both thought that Aihara was a strange character.

Turning a corner, he saw Fuji down the hall, dressed in his usual clothes. He chose to be simple, like Tezuka. He wore black pants and a long sleeved black shirt with a single silver belt, on which his trusted sword hung. No matter where he was, Fuji carried that sword. Unless he was playing tennis of course...

Tezuka looked down to his dress. He had to dress a little more out there since he was the prince and all, but he didn't like it. He, too, wore the black pants, only he had on three silver belts instead of one. His shirt was different, too. It was all a dark blue color. Not navy blue, a little brighter, but definitely not light. It was also more of a tank top, too. He did have sleeves though, they just weren't attached to the rest of his shirt. He liked the style though, as much as it'd kill him to admit it. That and Ryoma, well... Enough said there.

"Fuji."

The brunette turned and smiled. "Ah, Tezuka. I was wondering where you were."

"So I've heard."

"At any rate, I was told to warn you, well, I guess you would call it more informing than anything." Fuji said, knowing full well he was straying from the main point of the topic.

"Fuji. Just get to the point."

"Ah, yes. The point." Fuji smiled. "We're expecting a full scale attack from Hyotei's army." Fuji lost his smile. "We're not sure when, exactly. But we know it's soon. They're going to send everyone they can to fight us. They know that they're going to lose if they don't do something now."

Tezuka was quiet. This wasn't something he liked to think about. He knew that Hyotei could easily attack the castle. It wasn't like the castle wasn't on the border or anything. It was right up next to it, actually. He always thought that was stupid on his ancestor's part, but he didn't ever question it.

Tezuka looked out the window towards the blustering town. Everyone was happy. No one would think that just beyond the border, the enemy marched closer. No one would expect the attack when it came. And warning them about it would only make matters much worse. But he knew he needed to warn at least one person.

"We're going to try and head them off first, so they don't reach the town. If we can at least do that, then it's all worth it." Fuji explained. "We can't have the whole town be slaughtered, can we?"

Tezuka looked at him for a moment. It would be worth it. So he wouldn't have to warn Ryoma after all. He might not even know about it anyway. He smiled.

"Well, we'll have to do what we can, right?" Tezuka said slowly. "To protect...the townspeople."

Fuji stared at him a moment, his smile still not on his face. He didn't like the way Tezuka said that, but he didn't know why he didn't like it. It was odd, because Tezuka had never acted like this at all since they had met. Fuji could tell that he was hiding something, and it must've been big if he was hiding it. Tezuka hardly hid anything for anyone. But Fuji didn't care much. He had a job to do, and that was protect Tezuka and his secrets.

---[---

Rachel walked up to her shop. She was thinking that she really shouldn't have lied to Ryoma and Momoshiro, but it couldn't be helped. She could trust Ryoma with the information, that she knew. But Momo would have said it like it was worth nothing. He might have even panicked. She didn't need to cause an uproar in the town.

She opened the door and entered. She smiled when she saw a familiar figure standing and looking at random bottles aligning the shelves. "May I help you?" she asked sarcastically.

"Oh shut it." the man answered. "I only came because you said I'd be helpful. And I owe you a lot."

"Damn straight you do."

The man scoffed. He was dressed in white, mostly. The collar of his tank top was black and grey. His removable sleeves [much like Rachel's where white with black trim. His pants, thought, were grey. And he had on black boots. His shirt always made Rachel laugh, since the cut from just above his belly button down made it seem like a woman's shirt. She never got enough of his pinstripes either.

"I do need your help though. You'll come in handy. But you might hate me for it later." she spoke, sounding very serious.

"Whatever, just explain what it is you need from me." the man sighed, sitting down. "You know I'm game for just about anything, if it's important enough."

Rachel smiled. "It could mean the fate of this kingdom."

The man sat up, brushing back some of his silvery white hair out of his red eyes. "Okay, now I'm interested."

---[---

Tezuka wasn't sure what he was thinking about as he laid on his bed. He was supposed to be catching up on sleep this week. But he felt strange not sneaking out to go see Ryoma. He wondered what the other boy was doing, but he didn't really want to think about it. He hoped that Hyotei's forces didn't attack at all.

He closed his eyes for only a moment, drifting in and out of sleep. But when the castle shook and an explosion could be heard nearby, he shot awake. His door shot open, and Fuji appeared in the doorway.

"Tezuka!" he yelled. "It's happening now!"

"Why now? You said..."

"I know what I said, none of us were expecting this. But we need to hurry!" Fuji exclaimed, his usually closed eyes wide open. He was glaring, which was what usually happened when his eyes were open. He had his sword unsheathed and ready to use.

As Tezuka dressed himself for battle, and explosion shook the castle again. This time, he could hear servants and maids yelling and screaming for their lives. Fuji and himself looked horrified. They had made into the castle already. Forgetting about his clothes, Tezuka rushed out in only his pants and a light shirt, brandishing his sword.

They rushed out into the main hall, where bodies lay tossed and mangled in their own lifeless ways. Tezuka could only imagine the town looked the same. As he passed a window, he had looked out and saw smoke and flames everywhere in the town. He wished he could run out and find Ryoma to see if the boy was safe, but it was no use. He was needed here.

---[---

The man watched from a hilltop far from the city. Rachel stood next to him, both watching the destruction. He turned to her, all the playfulness gone from his face.

"Is this what you were talking about?"

"No." Rachel sighed. "No, what I want you to do is a little different. This just sparks everything." she explained. "I'll need you to go with some people to help them rescue someone."

The man looked confused. "What?" he asked. "Someone's getting kidnapped tonight?"

"That's the whole point." Rachel sighed. "It's all that this is. It's just one huge distraction so the king and queen would get murdered, and someone from the town to get kidnapped. And trust me, it's a very important person. At least, to the prince."

"And that's what you meant by the fate of this kingdom?"

"If he's to rule, I don't want him doing so with a tainted heart. If he lost this person, it is so going to happen." Rachel explained.

"Well, I'll do what I can." the man sighed.

"Oh, and it'll all be worth it."

---[---

Tezuka was tired. He was tired before this all happened. His body felt like it was on fire. He just wanted to rest. But he couldn't. He had to protect anyone he could. And he'd do it too.

Turning the corner, he realized he was back in the main hall. He wondered why he was so lost. Maybe it was all the bodies laying around on the ground. It threw everything off. He sighed, lowering his weapon. There was no one here.

"Tezuka!"

Tezuka turned. It was Fuji and Oishi running up to him. Kikumaru wasn't too far behind. The four of them stood in the hallway, quiet. Everything was quiet. There were no more explosions, no more yelling. Everything just stopped.

Hearing footsteps in the quietness, the four turned to another doorway. The king and queen stood there, looking quite angry. Tezuka was pleased to see them alive. He hadn't seen them since this whole thing started.

Suddenly, the front doors, the ones that lead outside, slammed open. Tezuka hadn't been aware it was raining, but that wasn't what was concerning him right then. It was who opened the door, and what he was holding.

"Aihara!" Tezuka yelled. "What are you doing?"

The man chuckled so manically, he'd never thought he'd ever heard such an evil sounding laugh. He mentally cringed at the sound of it.

"Well, well. The mighty prince." Aihara smirked. "Well, I was planning on killing off the king and queen tonight, but since that stupid mage had to go and spoil the surprise, they're both still alive."

Tezuka just glared at the man. "What about him?" he asked, referring to what Aihara was holding. He knew who that was even though he hadn't seen the face yet. The figure, the hair, it was definitely him. It was Ryoma.

"This guy?" Aihara asked, feigning stupidity. He lifted Ryoma's limp body a few inches. "Well, isn't it obvious?" he laughed. "I'm going to kidnap your little 'playmate', prince!"

"Playmate?" Fuji asked. "What is he talking about Tezuka?"

"That's right, you never told anyone about your nightly outings, did you?" Aihara smirked. "Oh well, I guess I let out that little secret." Aihara smiled. "Well, I guess I'll take my leave now, since I got what I came for. I'll come back to kill off you two." Aihara said, talking to the king and queen, who only glared at him.

"Wait! Aihara!" Tezuka yelled, starting to run towards the man. But with a gust of wind, the man was gone. Tezuka stood outside in the rain, wanting to kneel over and cry. Aihara had Ryoma. And who knew what that meant?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

They all sat there, reflecting upon last nights events. But there was one question on everyone's mind. How did Echizen Ryoma, a normal citizen of the town, have a connection to Tezuka Kunimitsu, the prince?

When the question was finally asked, by Momo who was brought by Rachel along with Kaido and Inui, Tezuka wasn't quite sure how to answer.

"He called him your playmate, Tezuka." Fuji sighed. "What was that all about?"

Tezuka sighed. He'd have to tell them, part of it anyway. "I'd sneak out at night." he explained. "The first time I did, a year ago, I played a match with him. He beat me. So we've been playing matches ever since."

"I wish you would've told us." his mother sighed dramatically. "You've worried me so."

Tezuka looked at her a moment. "You knew?"

"Of course I knew, dear. How do expect a mother not to know where her son is?" she asked, almost in a sarcastic tone.

"But you didn't--"

"I didn't say exactly where." she explained. "I knew you were in town. That was it."

It was quiet for a moment after that was said. Tezuka didn't want to say much more on the topic of Ryoma. He was just worried sick about the boy. He didn't know what Aihara had in mind for him.

"Actually..." the king decided to speak up. "Aihara Ryoki was not who any of you thought he was. His real name is Atobe Keigo."

Tezuka looked to Fuji. The name was awfully familiar, and the only place he'd heard it was in conversations surrounding Hyotei's missing heir.

"Atobe Keigo is the price of Hyotei." Rachel spoke up, sighing at everyone's stupidity.

"He's the prince that went missing right before this whole war started." the queen explained.

"Well, actually, he'd be king right now if he hadn't gone missing when he did." Rachel explained. "I'm sure Hyotei would be a happier place if Atobe were king."

"How can you say that?" Fuji growled. "The man killed countless people and kidnapped an innocent person just last night!"

Rachel sighed. "Now, I knew you'd take it that way, Fuji." She turned to glare at him. "Now, you may think this is stupid, but I don't think any of this Atobe's fault." She received strange looks from everyone in the room. Sighing, she continued her explanation. "I mean, I think someone's controlling him."

"How do you know that?" Tezuka asked. He too had thought that Atobe was a good person. He had trusted him at one point.

"Well, I met him a few years ago, during my travels." she explained. "He never even seemed like a bad person. A little arrogant, but not evil."

"And you can tell this about a person." Fuji said, not believing it at all. 

"I'm not..." Rachel said angrily, but stopped herself. She need to go off spouting she wasn't the high mage for nothing. No, she didn't want everyone in the room to know. "I have my ways. And people trust them. I've never been wrong."

"Well, I'll say you're wrong this time." Fuji sighed. "But that's not the problem now." Fuji said, turning serious again. "We need to worry about Atobe coming back and finishing the job."

Rachel was shocked, to say the least. Only herself and Fuji had been suggesting anything. She thought that at least Tezuka would suggest going to go save Ryoma. She was planning on it actually. But no, the boy just sat there, his chin resting on his folded hands. He wasn't moving or saying anything.

Suddenly, she got an idea into her head. While Fuji was spouting off his nonsense right then and there to the king and queen, she would try to sing some sense into Tezuka. And she knew just the song for the job.

"daisuki na hito ga tooi toosugite nakitaku naru no ashita me ga sametara hora kibou ga umareru kamo good night." she sang, just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "daisuki na hito yo itsumo itsumade mo sagashite shimau kitto me ga sametemo mada maboroshi wo kanjitai morning."

She slammed her hands down on the table as she finished with morning and stood up. By the time she finished the small excerpt of the song she had gained everyone's attention. Tezuka watched her wide eyed as she walked towards the door.

Tezuka smiled sadly as she approached the door. "I get it." he said.

"Do you really?" she asked him, stopping and turning her head to look at him.

"Yeah. I do." he smiled, closing his eyes. Upon opening them again, he stood and stared at his parents. "I'm going to go save him. I'm going to go and get Echizen Ryoma."

Both his parents glanced at each other. "I thought you'd never suggest it, dear." his mother smiled. "If that's what you want to do, then far be it from us to stop you."

Tezuka bowed in thanks. Fuji smiled at him. Oishi was happy, along with Kikumaru. Kaido and Momo looked to each other. Both were thinking the same thing. They wanted to go, but knew that they wouldn't be able to.

"Alright then!" Rachel exclaimed. "If you'll excuse me for just one moment, I'll go and being back one more member for this happy party!" She raised one hand and she was gone.

Everyone looked to each other, wondering what was going on in that girl's mind. When she returned to the room, she wasn't alone. She had retrieved some guy. No one had seen him before.

"Allow me to introduce the final member of the party, Haseo, in all his sexiness!" she exclaimed, completely happy.

"Would you stop introducing me like that?! And don't just pop up with that damn teleport spell of yours and drag me random places! You did that enough when we were partners, you asshole!" Haseo exclaimed.

"Now, now, Seo chan! Don't complain so much! You'll have fun, I promise!" Rachel brushed it off like nothing. "So, everyone in this room will be going to help save Ma chan, right? Okay, now that that's settled..."

"Wait a minute." Momo spoke up for the first time since they all met. "How do you know everyone here will want to go?"

"Wow, Shiro chan. I hadn't expected this from you, of all people." Rachel genuinely looked surprised. When he gave her a confused look, she felt inclined to explain. "Well, I mean. I thought you'd be all for this, saving Ma chan, I mean."

"What the hell is with the nicknames?" Haseo asked, hating it. It was something she started after their travels together.

"Of course I am!" Momo yelled back. "But you can't just say that everyone here will go!"

"Thanks, you know. I love being ignored." Haseo sighed. He earned himself a glare from Rachel and it was his cue to shut up or die.

"Well, who here, besides myself, the king and queen, are not going to participate in this, let's call it a quest for now?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips defiantly.

None in the room spoke up.

"That's what I thought. You see, Shiro chan, everyone would have a reason for going. Let's start with Kuun-" Rachel stopped a moment to catch herself. "Tezuka." she said, earning a glare from the man. "I didn't say it...anyway, he'd go because he wants to save his, uh, playmate. Fu chan [Fuji over there would go because it's technically his job to protect Tezuka. Shi chan [Oishi will go because he's been friends with Tezuka since forever ago. And Maru chan [Kikumaru will go because he and Shi chan are lovers." She paused to make sure Momo took everything in and understood it. "Now, you'll go because you and Ma chan have been friends since forever ago. Kaido will go because Ma chan is his rival of what, four years now? And Inui will go because I told him to. That, and he might find better tasting ingredients for his juices!"

"Are you hinting at something Rachel san?" Inui smirked. Oh, he'd have fun with this.

"Again with the nicknames..." Haseo sighed. "How am I supposed to know who's who?"

"But why would he go?" Kaido asked, referring to Haseo.

Rachel smirked and looked back at him. "He owes me his life. Oh, by the way, I forgot to ask you Haseo. How come Shino or Atoli, or Alkaid for that matter, isn't with you?"

Haseo looked surprised, to say the least. But he didn't answer the question. Instead, he raised the cup that sat on the table in front of him and drank from it. Rachel didn't seem fazed by it at all.

"You could have brought Endrance..."

The cup slammed on the table and Haseo yelled 'enough' and looked away, trying to hide a blush.

"Aw, but you know, he could come in handy. After all, he's giving you his 'everything', Haseo." Rachel smirked.

Haseo glared at her, like he was trying to burn a hole through her face. "I only needed him for the Holy Palace Tournament to help Alkaid! Ah, you're useless! You were there for that!"

"And you still won't say you don't need him." Rachel smirked, glad at winning that round. "Anyway, you all should hurry. Who knows what's being planned over there." She lost her smiled then. "Who knows why they want Ryoma."

"Shouldn't you?" Haseo asked.

"I'm a mage, Haseo. Not a mind reader." she glared at him. At least that they know of, jerk face. I don't need people knowing that about me just yet.

Haseo looked up, surprised at the voice inside his head. But then he smirked. Stupid bitch.

Rachel turned to glare at him for a split second before continuing on with the conversation. "I say you all should get ready tonight and leave first thing tomorrow morning." she suggested. "I mean, it wouldn't do anyone any good to rush out there right now as everyone currently is."

No one really understood what it was Rachel was trying to say right then and there. They just knew that she didn't want them leaving right then. And doing something that wasn't on her to do list was a bad thing.

Tezuka nodded. "We'll rest up tonight. We'll all leave in the morning. Make sure you're prepared." And with that said, everyone filed out of the room except the king, the queen, Tezuka, Rachel and Haseo.

"Haseo, be a dear and wait for me at the shop. I'll be right there." Rachel smirked.

"I don't have a choice, do I?" he sighed.

"Nope. See ya." she waved and he left the exact same way he came. Through Rachel's teleportation spell.

"Tezuka, there's another reason you want this boy, isn't there?" his father asked.

Tezuka was a little taken aback by the question. "Wh-what do you mean?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Tezuka, if you love this boy, just say so. We won't care." his mother stated matter of factly. "We don't want you to be unhappy. Besides, Rachel's song gave it all away. The one I love is far away. Or something much like that."

Tezuka chanced a glance to Rachel. She only smiled and told him "Oh, I already knew about all of this. But them, they figured this out all on their own."

Tezuka sighed. He'd have no choice now, he'd have to tell them about it. But then, Rachel stood, breaking the mood.

"I'll be back later tonight, Tezuka. I just thought of something, okay?" she said, leaving using her teleportation spell.

Tezuka turned back to his parents. He was glad that Rachel left. It meant that it wouldn't matter if he said something completely stupid. But he was determined to tell his parents about this.

---[---

Tezuka couldn't sleep. It had to be at least midnight, yet he couldn't sleep. He couldn't get the image of Atobe holding Ryoma out of his mind. It worried him to know that anything could happen to him right now.

Turning on his side, he looked out the window. He could see part of the town. Quickly turning the other way, he wondered what it looked like. He hadn't seen all of it yet. But he was sure he would tomorrow morning when he left. He really didn't want to.

A knock came at the door and he thought it'd be Rachel, but when he opened the door, he was surprised to see Fuji there.

"Is something wrong?" was the first thing he thought of. He thought maybe someone had decided to attack the castle again, or maybe Atobe came back to finish the job.

Fuji shook his head. "I just can't sleep."

Tezuka nodded. "I couldn't either, obviously." he said, signaling for the knight to enter the room. The knight nodded as he entered. "What's on your mind, Fuji?"

Fuji looked at Tezuka for awhile, as if looking at him could answer the questions flowing in and around his mind. "A lot of things, really." he said slowly. "Why would Atobe take just that one person? Even if you've been sneaking out to play tennis with him night after night."

Tezuka was quiet. It never occurred to him until Fuji suggested it that Atobe knew parts of his life he thought no one knew about. He never thought that Atobe would know about his relationship with Ryoma. "I don't know." he lied. "Who could know?"

"I guess no one really could." came a third voice.

Both men turned to find Rachel in the room. They looked to each other, but weren't so very surprised. After all, Rachel did have her ways of showing up unexpectedly.

"At any rate." she smiled, tossing a shirt to Tezuka. "This is for you. It might come in handy, you never know." She pulled out a katana as Tezuka held the shirt. Thrusting it forward, watching as Tezuka's eyes widened for a moment, then pulling the sword back, she smiled. "I'm sure you'll find a use for it, if not now then later. I'll see you all tomorrow morning, bright and early! Oh, and avoid magic. Physical stuff that thing is great for, but I haven't quiet gotten the magic aspect down yet. Ja, ne!"

Tezuka held up the shirt as Fuji watched her leave. With her personality, he kept forgetting that she was four years older than him. 'That makes her twenty five this year.' he thought absently.

"What was she talking about?" Fuji sighed, still not used to Rachel's antics. "And why would she give you a random shirt?"

Tezuka sighed, smiling. "It's nothing to worry about. She's just being herself. You should be used to it by now, Fuji. It's been years since you've met her."

Fuji sighed. "She's so hard to understand."

Tezuka laughed, turning to face him, tossing the shirt to an empty chair. "That's why we stopped trying a long time ago."

---[---

Everyone met just outside the castle grounds at dawn. No one seemed to really want to be there. No one wished that the events of last night happened.

Momoshiro stood next to Kaido and Inui, scowling down at his shoes. He didn't understand why it had to be Echizen Ryoma that was kidnapped. Even if the boy had played tennis with the prince. He didn't want it to be Ryoma that was kidnapped.

Tezuka stood their, not sure if he wanted all of these people to come with. It was a rescue mission, not a trip. But he knew that everyone here needed to be here. They all had a connection to Ryoma in one way or another.

He absent mindedly fiddled with the shirt that Rachel had given him the night before. It wasn't much of a shirt. It was more a tank top, like the one he usually wore anyway. He wondered if she had planned it this way. He wondered if all of this was her plan.

As if knowing he was thinking of her, she showed up with Haseo using her teleportation spell again. She was all smiles, but Haseo looked miserable.

"Well, this makes everyone!" she said after a head count. She took a spot standing next to the king and queen, looking at the eight men ready to make their way to the kingdom of Hyotei. She gave them a thumbs up and winked. "I wish you all the best of luck!"

"You aren't coming?" Tezuka felt inclined to ask. "I thought you were close with him."

She shook her head. "I need to take care of a few things. I'll catch up later!"

Haseo shook his head at her. "Whatever you say." She scowled back at him.

"At any rate, you all need to be careful. Just heading straight into Hyotei's territory is a bad idea. I suggest you take the round about way and go through those little countries, I guess you'd call them." Rachel sighed. "Go through Fudomine first. That should start you all off perfectly. I'm sure Tachi chan would help you guys out, if you asked nice enough. And Ji chan doesn't give you a hard time... Although if Rhythm chan is there I'm sure Ji chan won't be much of a problem..."

Tezuka nodded. "If that's all, we'll be going now."

"Yeah, you talk too much anyway." Haseo nodded along with Tezuka. For that remark, Rachel tossed something at him, but he caught it. Looking at what it was, he was shocked.

"With your horrible skills, you'd need something to back you up, Seo chan." Rachel smirked and winked at him. "Now, now! You all can't stand here forever! Who will save Ma chan if you all stay here talking to us?!"

Everyone took the hint and started on their way. After all, the small kingdom of Fudomine was a day's walk ahead of them.  



	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

For the first three hours of walking, it was quiet. No one spoke, no one said anything, no one tried to make small talk. After all, there were three groups of stranger walking together for a similar cause.

Group one was Tezuka, Fuji, Oishi and Kikumaru. Inui could be considered part of this group too, since he also did business with the king and queen on a weekly basis. For some reason, they liked his juices.

Group two was Momoshiro and Kaido. Inui could be considered part of this group for a number of reasons. One, he grew up and went to school with Momoshiro, Kaido and Ryoma. Two, his shop was next to Rachel's, and they had all hung out together from time to time.

Group three, or rather, individual three was Haseo. Since he didn't know anyone from either group, he kept to himself. It was all because Rachel was hatching schemes again.

The only thing they all had in common was the fact that they all knew Rachel and they all wanted to save Ryoma for some reason or another. But they weren't in the mood to make new friends. At least, not until Kikumaru Eiji started to complain of the quietness of everyone.

"Nya! Why is everyone so quiet? This is supposed to be an adventure!" he exclaimed, his hands behind his head as he feigned sadness.

"Eiji." Oishi said sheepishly. "It's not quite an adventure. I don't think you should call it that."

"It sort of is, if you look at it from Rachel's perspective." Haseo sighed. "It didn't matter what was in trouble and needed saving. She called it an adventure. I've almost died hearing her call a quest that. Stupid damn moron..." he mumbled on.

"Well, it is an adventure I suppose." Fuji sighed. "An adventure is technically a quest or a journey. Isn't that what we're doing?"

"I suppose." Inui said, noting some things in his notebook. Really, he carried it everywhere he went in hopes of attaining knew information on anyone he knew. The only person he hadn't been able to do that for was Rachel, but he vowed that one day he'd get something on her. "But wouldn't you more call it a rescue mission?"

"Yeah, we are going out to rescue Echizen, after all." Momo said absently. He was still trying to piece things together.

"Fssh, baka." Kaido whispered out, barely gaining Momo's attention.

"What was that, Mamushi?" he exclaimed, preparing himself for a fight. Of course, Kaido took the bait and growled back at Momo.

"Oi, oi, you two." Oishi said. "Don't start fighting each other."

"You'll get used to it as time moves on. It's what they do. They're so simple." Inui sighed, closing his notebook. He didn't need any more information on Kaido or Momoshiro.

"Really." Haseo said skeptically. "So, tell me. What is it you're writing in that notebook of yours?"

Inui smirked, and odd glint shone on his glasses. "You really want to know?" He smirked even more as Haseo nodded slowly. "Well, let's just say I need information on people to understand them. I've gotten plenty on you since this morning. Just little quirks about your habits."

Haseo was shocked, to say the least. But Rachel had warned him of this. 'Look out for Inui.' she had said. 'He'll watch you like a hawk and find your weaknesses before you even know what they are.'

He looked down at his shoes. He wondered if the man had ever gotten anything on Rachel's weaknesses. That would be useful information for him to use in the long run. He was about to ask the question, but when he looked up to Inui, the man was shaking his head no, as if he knew Haseo's thoughts. And that scared him more than anything.

"So Inui, how many pages do you have on me now? Last time I asked, you said it was two." Fuji smirked, taunting the other man.

Inui smirked. Fuji would be surprised, this he knew for a fact. "I have six pages on you now, Fuji Syuusuke." He smirked even wider when he saw Fuji's shocked expression. 'Score one for me.' he thought.

Fuji turned and looked straight ahead. He didn't like where this conversation was headed. And he didn't like that he now had six pages to his name in Inui's notebook. But another thought came into mind, as he watched Tezuka's back. He turned to Inui, but the man was already way ahead of him.

"I've got half a page, nothing more, nothing less." he informed him grimly.

Fuji scowled as he turned back around. Of course there'd hardly be anything on Tezuka in that notebook. Tezuka was like a wall when it came to breaching his thoughts and habits. Even when playing tennis, you could never know what Tezuka was going to do until after he did it. But this made him wonder how this Echizen Ryoma was able to defeat him.

Turning around once more to face Inui, he looked determined for some reason. "How much do you have on Echizen Ryoma?"

At this, Inui sighed and this seemed bad to Fuji. "I only have three lines on him, and it's only about his serve and one other move." Sighing once more, he opened his notebook to the page marked 'Echizen Ryoma' and stared at it. "He's so hard to read. He uses one technique and he switches from using the techniques of others as he plays. I've seen him use Momoshiro's dunk smash and Kaido's Boomerang snake against them a number of times. I can only imagine what he's learned from our prince."

Fuji turned to look at Tezuka, but the prince remained emotionless as he walked onward. He looked back to the others, who seemed to have found something else to talk about since he started questioning Inui.

"I guess that's something you'll have to find out for yourself, Inui." Tezuka muttered.

Fuji was a bit frustrated at that being the first thing the other man had said all day. Fuji knew that there must've been a lot on his mind. And he knew it was those secrets again. He hated how Tezuka had only recently started keeping these secrets. Did he not trust Fuji like he had for so many years? It didn't make much sense to him. But there wasn't anything he could do.

---[---

The next three hours of walking had been more eventful. Momo and Kaido had gotten into several fights, but usually Inui and Oishi stopped them. For awhile, Momo and Eiji had played a game of rock-paper-scissors to pass the time. But when that got boring the started to play I spy. They had gotten everyone to play except Tezuka and Fuji. And Inui had even made a competition out of it.

He pulled out a bottle of his new 'super deluxe Inui juice version seven'. Momo and Kaido looked to each other and gulped, knowing that the other six had tasted vile, with each one getting worse as time went on. So the rules needed to be set.

"We'll have one person spy something." Inui explained. "And everyone else will have one minute to find it. At the end of that minute, we'll all say what it is. If someone is wrong or doesn't know, they get to have a nice big gulp of my juice. But if everyone can guess what it is, then the person who spied gets to drink. Agreed?"

"That's stupid. I'm not doing that." Haseo sighed, looking away.

"Ah, but if you forfeit now, you'll get to chug this down." Inui smirked, pulling out a second bottle. "This one is called my 'super sexy Inui juice, type dyna-- I mean, type red."

Momo gulped. Had he heard correctly? Did he almost say 'type dynamite'? No, it must be a mistake...at least, he hoped it was. Type dynamite had been a disaster.

Haseo sighed. "Fine, I'll play. But I won't lose, either."

Inui smirked. "So let the game begin!"

They drew straws to see who would spy first. Luckily for Momo, he was first to spy.

He looked around. There was nothing in particular to spy. There were trees and bushes, plants and other miscellaneous items. But nothing worth spying. So it would have to be something that one of them carried. He looked around. He needed to find something that no one would guess, so the game would end and he wouldn't have to drink anything.

He looked around at everyone without seeming like he was. It was then that he noticed the bracelet around Fuji's wrist. It was a dark purple, almost matching with the knight's black shirt. He was certain no one would notice it.

"I spy something purple and circular." he said, smirking, looking off towards the side of the road.

Inui started a timer and everyone looked around. It wasn't much to look at, and Momo knew he had them all beat.

"Time." Inui called.

Momo waited as everyone looked to each other. He knew from the look on their faces that he had this won. And that was why, when they all pointed towards Fuji and said "the bracelet", he was shocked. He couldn't believe it. He would have to drink first.

Sadly, he took a huge swig of the juice, and then preceded to pass out. Everyone watched in sheer horror as the man fell to the floor. Everyone looked to Inui. Sighing, the man picked Momo up and placed him in a comfortable position on his back. Of course he'd have to carry someone, he was the one who came up with the juice idea in the first place. But now he was starting to regret it.

Next to spy was Inui. He searched around, but was having a hard time since Momo was on his back. But he nonetheless found something. "I spy something orange and small, yet long in length."

He started the timer. Once the minute was up, Kaido and Eiji looked scared since they couldn't find what it was Inui was spying. But Haseo and Oishi knew right away.

"The stitching on Momoshiro's pant leg." they said. Both Eiji and Kaido had to drink and Haseo and Oishi had new passengers.

"I think...we should stop playing." Haseo suggested.

Inui nodded. "I agree." He shifted Momo a little. "This was a bad idea to do while walking."

"That's your own fault, Inui." Fuji smirked, looking back at the three struggling. "But I must say, it's amusing, ne, Tezuka?"

Tezuka chanced a glance back at them and smirked along with Fuji. "It is quite amusing to see you all as pack mules."

The three scowled as the prince and the knight led them towards Fudomine. They hoped that there wasn't much walking left to do.

---[---

It was eight hours before they reached Fudomine. Apparently, all the castles were placed upon the outskirts of the countries. But upon looking at the map, our travelers realized that all Fudomine is was a city with a castle in the middle. It confused them a little, to find a kingdom so small. But they didn't mind much. It meant they were closer to Hyotei.

Upon arrival, Tezuka demanded an audience with Tachibana Kippei, the king of the land. He was young for a king, no older than Tezuka himself. But he was a great leader, and since his parents were killed off in a recent war, he was given title of king.

Tezuka only took Fuji with him, since Kikumaru, Kaido and Momoshiro were still passed out cold from Inui's drinks. Not to mention that Haseo, Inui and Oishi seemed exhausted from carrying the three all the way here for eight hours. It wasn't something that Tezuka would want to do.

So he and Fuji made their way to the castle while the other six waited under the shade of a tree. It's not like they needed the shade anyway. The sun was setting and dusk was setting over the land. It'd be dark in a matter of minutes.

Once they arrived at the gates, a guard stopped them and asked what business they had here. Tezuka told them he needed to speak with their king, but the man muttered something, and then another guard appeared.

"Shinji!" the second guard hollered. "Just let them through. I'm sure Kippei won't mind."

Fuji raised his eyebrows. "Hey, you don't suppose these two would be Ji chan and Rhythm chan, do you, Tezuka?"

Tezuka shrugged.

Upon hearing the nicknames, both turned and glared at them. "Rachel sent you didn't she?"

Fuji and Tezuka looked surprised and glanced at each other. "No, but she did tell us to come through here."

"She did it just to bother us... Spreading those nasty nicknames..." the guard known as Shinji muttered on. He turned and started to lead them towards the throne room.

---[---

Tachibana really wasn't all they expected. With his hair dyed blonde, he looked like nothing more than a high schooler, if that. But they ignored it, since they needed help.

"So, I hear from Kamio that you all know Rachel." the man smirked. When he noticed their confused faces about Kamio, he laughed. "Rhythm chan to Rachel."

Hearing the nickname again, Kamio scowled. "I don't see why she calls me that."

"You really don't know?" Haseo asked, looking at the man like he'd just heard him say the stupidest thing known to man.

"How long have you been here, Haseo?" Kamio asked, looking surprised and ignoring the look on Haseo's face.

"I've been here the whole time, dumbass." Haseo sighed.

"No you haven't. We left you outside." Fuji said. "How'd you get in here anyway."

"The same way I did seven years ago when Rachel left me outside." Haseo smiled.

"The window." Shinji explained, pointing to the said hole in the wall. "Rachel nearly threw him back out when he came through."

"Wait, wait, wait." Kamio said. "You know the story behind my nickname? She wouldn't even tell me that."

"It's no secret. When we first came here, you got pissed at her and wanted to play a match of tennis. She kicked your ass, and when you first started, you kept saying 'you were feeling the rhythm' like a moron." Haseo explained like it was nothing.

Kamio looked hurt by the words but none the less left it alone.

"Anyway, what brings the prince of Seigaku to my little kingdom?" Tachibana asked. He had a sly smile on his lips, one that Shinji and Kamio knew all too well.

Tezuka was quiet for a moment. "We're here to ask for a place to stay the night and a few miscellaneous items for our journey to Hyotei."

"Why would you want to go there? All hell's broken loose since their prince was kidnapped a year ago." Kamio asked. He knew that he would never want to go into that country now.

Tezuka looked down. "A friend was kidnapped by someone from there." he explained. "We're going to rescue him."

Tachibana smiled and stood up. "Alright. If you can beat me in a match, you can have all that and anything else you might need."

Tezuka was shocked. He hadn't expected this at all. But he'd always wanted to play tennis with someone outside of Seigaku. "Alright."

---[---

There was a court right outside the throne room, to everyone's delight. Fuji had gone to retrieve the rest of their party to watch. The stood lined around the court, along with some of Tachibana's fans.

"Shall we begin, Tezuka Kunimitsu?" Tachibana asked, preparing himself to receive Tezuka's serve.

Tezuka nodded, and tossed the ball up. Everyone watched with curiosity. None, aside from Fuji, had ever seen Tezuka play an official match with anyone. It had never been on his list of things to do during the day. At least, not to anyone's knowledge.

Everyone stood wide eyed as the neon yellow ball sped past Tachibana's legs. He hadn't had the time to react at all to the serve. No one had known that Tezuka's serves were that fast.

"Ah." Tachibana smiled. "This'll be fun."

---[---

Rachel sighed, picking the lock to Ryoma's house. She hated picking locks, but for Ryoma, she told herself that she'd have to deal with it.

"Oh, the things I do for you, boy." she mumbled under her breath. She was glad it was night and no one would suspect a lock pick after last night's events. Hearing a click, she smiled and opened the door. Turning on a light, she looked around.

There was no mess at all. She wondered how Atobe managed to grab Ryoma without making one. She was sure the boy would put up a fight. But then again, according to Tezuka, he'd been passed out.

MEOW!

Rachel walked into the kitchen. There, sitting by a bowl was Karupin, Ryoma's cat. She hated the thing mainly because it hated her, but she told herself Ryoma would die if he returned and found his cat dead. She didn't want Tezuka to have to go and save him, only for the boy to die when they returned.

"Okay cat, listen up." she said, shaking a finger at it. "Ryoma's been kidnapped. Now before you give me any crap about foreseeing and whatnot, there wasn't anything I could do okay? Now, I'm going to leave you in my shop, and then I'm going to go help save him alright?"

She was surprised when the cat actually nodded at her. "I hate you, and I know the feeling is mutual, but I'm doing this for Ryoma and Tezuka's sakes, alright?" Once more, the cat nodded.

"Good, you understand." she smiled, picking the cat up. "Now, let's lock up and be on our way, okay?"

---[---

"Ah, that was indeed a good match, Tezuka." Tachibana smiled, extending a hand for Tezuka to shake. "I shall abide by our agreement. There's an inn not far from here. To be honest, it's much better than sleeping an any bed here. Well, that and there's not enough room because of a, well, let's call it misfortune." he explained, eyeing at Kamio and Shinji. They shied away, averting eye contact with their king.

"At any rate, you can stay there, just tell the innkeeper that I've sent you. She won't mind. As for your miscellaneous supplies, tell these two anything you need. They'll get it for you." Tachibana said, glaring at the two out of the corner of his eye. Again, they averted eye contact.

Tezuka bowed slightly. "Thank you." he spoke.

Tachibana nodded in return. "You two, show them to the inn." he said to Shinji and Kamio. They nodded and started to lead the way.

---[---

"Right. So, you're content, are you not?"

Rachel glared down to the cat that was currently stuffing it's face. Really, she had hated it. Ever since she met Ryoma those many years ago, the cat had hated her. Well, she thought it started out as a mutual dislike, but it soon grew to hatred. Maybe it was because while she was out adventuring with Ryoma, the cat had stayed home.

She didn't know the cause for Karupin's hatred of her, but she did guess that was it. After all, before Ryoma started to open up to people, his world consisted of Momoshiro, Kaido, Inui and the cat. It wasn't until about six, almost seven years ago that Rachel appeared in his life. But that was another story altogether.

She stood and walked to her living room. Well, she mostly used her living room for her shop. Her house was built strangely anyway, but when she first came to Seigaku, she hadn't expected to be a shopkeeper. It was new to her, and she wasn't sure if her shop was doing well, or failing. But she didn't really care. She had everyday customers and she earned enough money to get by. Besides, if she hadn't earned enough, she'd just conjure up food and whatever else she needed.

One of the perks of being the high mage.

And that was another perk of the shopkeeper business. No one could tell by the things she sold that she was the high mage. She didn't want people lining up for her services. Not like it had been in her home land. But, thanks to Haseo, they all thought she died and were now looking for a new high mage. She never did ask him if they ever found one.

But they were such demanding people. All the time they wanted something of her. It didn't matter if it was two am and she hadn't gotten any sleep for days. They'd want something done and they'd want it done on the spot. And she hated it at funerals. All the time, they blamed her for not saving a person.

That was when she and Haseo and few other friends went on that journey across wherever they wanted to go. But when they came upon Seigaku, their last stop before returning home, Rachel hadn't wanted to leave. She didn't want to go back to restless nights and people banging on her door for stupid things. So they had come up with the plan to leave Rachel in Seigaku and tell everyone at home that she had died in their travels. If someone had asked why they themselves hadn't healed her, they simply replied with 'it's not like we could bring her back to life'.

Haseo had written letters about the ordeal. At first, no one believed them. But as months and then finally a year passed, no one questioned them anymore. They knew, without a doubt, she was dead. And it made her laugh to think that they thought that, without a doubt.

But that was a thing of the past, and she never planned on going back there. She had no family to speak of, except her friends, but they came here occasionally to visit her. And she was glad for that.

But now, she had to get herself prepared for the things about to happen. It was true, she could see into the future, but she couldn't willfully do it. She couldn't just wish to know what would happen a week in advance. It just didn't work that way. But the visions seemed to know what was important, or amusing at times, and those are the visions that counted.

But she did have a bad feeling about everything. She knew someone was going to die. She just hoped that they could prevent it.

---[---

"That's the inn." Kamio explained.

The inn didn't look at all like they thought it was going to. If anything, it looked nicer than the castle had. They wondered how it was inside.

They were led inside and they marveled at how bright it was. It felt like it was still noon while outside it was probably nearing midnight. Everything was brightly colored, yet it wasn't. Nothing was of a neon variety of color, but rather, it was dull, but together with all the dull colors, it seemed quite bright. They wondered who could do something like this.

"It looks quite nice here." Fuji commented as they all entered the space.

Kamio gave Fuji a look that said the tensai knight was stupid. "Of course it's nice here! An chan decorated all of this herself!"

"An chan?" Momoshiro said, more than asked. "Who is she? Your lover?"

Kamio immediately blushed at the thought. "N-no!" he said. "I would n-never!" he exclaimed, searching for the right words to say.

They heard giggling from the other end of the room, and they turned to see a woman standing in the doorway ahead of them. "Now, now, Kamio kun. There's no shame in that." she winked at him, causing him to blush in embarrassment.

"A-an chan! If Tachibana sama were to find out you were saying such things!" Kamio exclaimed, blushing more and more by the second.

She giggle again. "Oh, he's no fun when it comes to me!" she sighed desperately. "Anyway, who are the guests you've brought with you?"

Kamio seemed to calm down a bit, but Shinji needed to explain who they were.

"This is Prince Tezuka Kunimitsu, from Seigaku. And the rest, I didn't catch their names. They must not have said them. I'm sure I would've remembered if they had properly introduced themselves..." The silent rant went on and An had stopped listening to him.

"Tachibana sama said to let them stay here. You missed his match earlier." Kamio explained.

"What? He played? Hmm..." She looked sad to hear she had missed one of the king's games. He didn't play that often, but she was always there for his matches. "Who did he play?"

"He played Prince Tezuka here." Kamio said, gesturing towards him. "And Tachibana sama lost."

Her eyes widened. "He lost to you?" she asked, surprised.

"Is that strange?" Tezuka asked, feeling a little agitated. Why was it so hard to believe that someone lost every now and again? Well, then again, everyone still thought that Tezuka was undefeated. No one had known about his matches with Ryoma...

"Well, it's just, he's never lost before, except that once. But that doesn't count. This is a shocker." she said, eyeing him. "Well, you must be good then."

"What is he to you?" Momo asked rather bluntly.

She eyed him now. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, the way you talk about him. What? Is he your lover or something?" he asked, glaring at her to return her eyeing him.

She started laughing then and Kamio looked pissed. Shinji on the other hand looked rather amused. She waited until her laughter subsided and then explained.

"No, no. It's nothing like that." she said, a bit of laughter still in her system. "He's my older brother!" she exclaimed, the laughter catching up with her again.

"What?" Momo's eyes widened as he stared at her in shock. They didn't seem that much alike! They hardly looked related. What with her burgundy colored hair and his being blonde. Their facial expressions didn't match up either.

Fuji looked on amused and Haseo couldn't look more bored if he tried. Tezuka didn't feel like listening in on the conversation any longer. Inui was jotting down more notes, most likely on Momoshiro's obliviousness. Kaido merely whispered out 'baka, fssh' at Momoshiro and looked away. Eiji giggled and Oishi looked embarrassed for some reason.

"Nya, so you're Tachibana's little sister!" Eiji exclaimed, excited for reasons unknown to everyone there.

"Eiji! It's late. There's probably people trying to sleep." Oishi said, trying to calm down his lover.

"Eh, no one will care." An explained. "They're all dead to the world anyway."

"Anyone who sleeps here is dead to the world." Haseo commented and received a glare from An before she realized it was him.

"When did you get here? Is Rachel with you?" she immediately asked.

"No, she's not here. And I got here when the rest of them did. Why else would I be standing here?" he asked her, glaring back.

An ignored the statement and looked to everyone. "I wonder if I'll have enough rooms for you all." she said, moving to a nearby desk. She pulled out a book. She then preceded to count everyone present, except herself, Kamio and Shinji, who was still muttering about miscellaneous things.

"Eight of you, huh? Will you be willing to share rooms, or do you all want separate?" An asked them.

They all looked to each other, the eight of them, and then back to An. "Separate would be best."

---[---

Tezuka walked out onto the balcony. It'd been an hour since they all ate and decided to go to bed. But he hadn't been able to sleep. He was thinking too much about Ryoma.

He really did wish they hadn't decided to take a week off from meeting each other. But it was taking a toll on their bodies; they were bound to brake eventually, and that eventually would have been soon. But if they had met that night, maybe Ryoma wouldn't have been kidnapped.

But it was stupid to think about such things. What's done is done and there wasn't anything he could do to change it. He just had to go and get Ryoma himself.

But he did wonder what Rachel had to do with everything. Practically everyone in Fudomine knew her from something. Whether it just be the sets she played with Shinji, Kamio and Tachibana. Or she had conversed with them at one point and that person remembered the entire conversation, a conversation that happened over six years ago. It was strange to think about it. He would have to talk to her about it when they returned. He wouldn't let her talk her way out of it, either.

Sighed, he went back inside and laid down on the bed. It was comfortable, but too large, much like his bed back home. His mother had insisted he use it, even though he opted for a smaller bed. He slept in it to please her, but he had hoped this bed would be smaller, but it was still large.

Sighing, he closed his eyes, trying every trick in the book to fall asleep. When nothing worked, he just laid there, trying to think about nothing, letting no thoughts of Ryoma into his mind, and finally, the blackness of sleep claimed him. And he was thankful it was a dreamless sleep.

---[---

When Tezuka awoke, the sun had just barely started to ease it's way over the horizon. He cursed at his ill luck. He hadn't been able to sleep more than a few hours. And it was sleep he desperately needed if he was going to rescue Ryoma.

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and frowned, staring at the ground. Why couldn't he sleep? Eventually, his body would break down and finally let him catch up on all the sleep he's missed in the last two days. But when would that be? It could not happen for days on end. And he didn't want to slow down hs progress.

There was a knock at the door, but he ignored it. Or, maybe he just didn't hear it. He wasn't too sure. He turned his attention to Fuji as his knight opened the door and walked into the room. He didn't say anything; he didn't have to.

"Did you sleep at all?" Fuji asked, knowing Tezuka all too well.

Tezuka shook his head. "I'm baffled. I don't know why he did it." he whispered, staring at the ground again. He didn't look to Fuji when he say down on the bed next to him.

"As far as I can tell, he wants Seigaku for his own. He spouted off some nonsense about killing the king and queen. He'd probably just trying to get to you." Fuji explained. "I've wondered about it too."

Tezuka didn't say anything to that. He was only half concerned about that. In fact, the only thing running through his mind was Ryoma. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but he knew that he couldn't ask Fuji. He wouldn't have the answers he was looking for.

They sat there in silence for hours. Fuji just stared at the ceiling, admiring the woodwork, and Tezuka just stared at the floor, asking himself questions that only a few people could answer.

And then a thought came to mind. What about Haseo?

He looked at the wall now, even more questions bubbling in his mind. Wouldn't Haseo know about Rachel? He could ask, but he was too convinced that Haseo knew much. Rachel had always hidden things from everyone; he wasn't sure if any one person knew Rachel inside and out. He was certain no one but herself knew her that well.

But he decided he should at least give it a shot. Asking Haseo wouldn't hurt. He was almost certain Rachel wouldn't mind him spilling her life's story to him. It wouldn't matter anyway. If he didn't tell him, he would get her to.

---[---

He found Haseo outside, sitting in a tree. He didn't appear to be napping or anything of the sort, so Tezuka called him down. He gave him a confused look, almost amused, but he came down anyway.

They found a secluded place and the entire walk there they hadn't spoke. Tezuka was too busy trying to find the perfect first question. And he thought he had.

"How well do you know Rachel?" he asked nonchalantly.

Haseo shrugged. "We grew up together. So I know her pretty well. I mean, I can't know everything about her, she's so freaking secretive. But that's how she is. She wants you to figure it out, ask people, watch her closely." he explained.

"Can you explain why everyone here knows her, even though it's been years since she's stepped foot in this country?" Tezuka asked.

"How do you know it's been years?" Haseo asked, feeling like putting Tezuka through mental hell for a little while. It should prove to be amusing on his part, maybe not so much for the prince. But he decided to do it anyway. It was in his nature, after all.

"She hasn't left Seigaku for six years, I know that for a fact." Tezuka said, a little confused at how the conversation had turned around.

"Well, Fudomine is only a day's walk from where you all live. She could be gone for three or four days and you wouldn't even know about it." Haseo explained. "It's not like you keep tabs on her all the time. You'll see her occasionally, I'm sure, but not everyday or even every other day. There's that and, with that teleport spell of hers, no one can be sure of where she's been in one day."

"You know that's not it." Tezuka said.

"I know that. I was with her when we first came here, about seven years ago." Haseo smiled. "I'm just seeing how well you believed your theory."

"Well, let's not beat around the bush. We are in a bit of a hurry." Tezuka frowned, not liking Haseo messing with him like this.

"Well, we have awhile before we even step foot in Hyotei. And then there's the whole walk back. I think I'll have my fun and tell you bit by bit, little by little. You know, solve a riddle with a bunch of little riddles." he smiled. "You already got puzzle piece number one. Let's see how long it is before I give you piece number two." he said, walking away. "Shouldn't we be leaving soon, Prince?"

Tezuka frowned as he watched Haseo walk back to the inn. He was certain that the two were friends. They were both secretive. But at least he could get information from Haseo, unlike Rachel. When it came to secrets, Rachel held onto them for dear life. She was a safe no one was going to crack, and no one in their right mind would even try.

---[---

Rachel sighed, waking up. It was nearing noon already. She heard a meow from the kitchen and knew that Karupin was about to kill her if she didn't get up right that second and feed the damn animal. Really, if this had been her cat, she would have through it out a long time ago. But no, it belonged to Ryoma and he loved the stupid thing. Why, oh why did he have to get the thing?

Sighing in defeat, she finally got up and put some cat food in the food dish she had laid out for the cat. Karupin was pleased with it, and after sniffing for what seemed like poison, started to eat. She wished the cat had been Momoshiro's. Then she'd have no problem letting it 'accidentally' die on her. Hah, some lie that would be.

She moved to make herself something to eat, but after decided that it wasn't necessary, that she wasn't hungry, she moved to the living room instead and sat down. She had wondered what Haseo would do if someone had asked about her. She was near certain that someone from Fudomine would mention that they knew her and Haseo. But she hadn't the slightest clue if anyone was curious enough, and smart for that matter, to ask Haseo questions about her. Everyone there seemed like they were missing a few brain cells, but together she thought they made a good team.

At least, for Ryoma's sake, she hoped so. She had thought about Ryoma saving himself before they even got there. With Ryoma, it was a possibility. He was probably just caught off guard, or as she suspected, a sleep spell was used. But once he woke up, that was a different story. The boy would be livid. And that couldn't mean well. She'd never seen Ryoma angry before, but she was certain it wasn't a pleasant sight. She didn't want to be around when that happened.

But what would happen if he left and came here and didn't run into the happy party on the way? Oh, she was certain Tezuka would be happy that Ryoma was safe, but livid with her. She was certain that Haseo would be pissed. Oh, she was certain of that.

But she wouldn't care. She'd remind him of a few certain things and the feelings would subside. They'd be on good terms again. If you could call their mutual agreement good terms. But they'd grown up together. They knew things about each other that no one else knew. She supposed that if he thought about it, Haseo would have plenty of blackmail on her as well. But he never used it against her. Oh well, his loss.

A knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts. Instead of ignoring it like her mind was screaming at her to do, she got up to answer it. And she wished she hadn't when she saw Akane standing there. She hated this woman.

"Oh, Rachel san!" she smiled happily. Rachel felt obliged to return the smile, even if it looked like she didn't want to. "I know you must be grieving and what not, since you were close with Ryoma kun, but--"

"Something's being done about that as we speak Akane. Stop stalling. What is it you want?" Rachel sighed, not feeling like putting up with such nonsense.

"Well, since everyone is working hard to restore the town, I was going to come by here, to see if you had any stamina potions available. The door wasn't open earlier, so I thought you were sleeping in. But it's after noon now, so I thought you'd be up and--"

The woman stopped babbling as soon as Rachel shoved a bag into her hands. "There's about forty in there. If you need more, come get me. And next time, don't start babbling on about nothing. Just be to the point and I'll be a happier person, Akane."

Akane smiled, and she left. Rachel went back inside, but not before putting a 'do not disturb' sign on her front door. So help her, if anyone bothered her right now, well, let's just say they wouldn't get another opportunity to. She had too much to think about and prepare for to be interrupted by stupid people like Akane.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

Rachel sighed, staring up at the night sky. She was glad it was night. It was her favorite time of day, when everything was quiet and dark. Nothing bothered her. And the stars were brighter than ever tonight.

"I wonder what they're doing." she spoke absently. She really didn't need to. She already knew. It'd been three days since everyone left on their rescue mission. By now, they had to be nearing St. Rudolph. Yes, she was certain they were there.

But she wondered how Fuji would last there. What with Mizuki there... But she supposed they'd deal with their dislike of each other in a civil way. Fuji wasn't one to just deck someone over a disagreement.

"But Yu chan is there..." she said, scowling up at the sky. Sighing, she sat up. Her own preparations were nearly complete, and she'd have to pack a few things before she left in the near future. She was certain they would need things, and she would too when she was done with her own agenda.

She didn't need to be thinking of them at the moment. They'd be fine until they got to Hyotei. Rachel wasn't too sure what was going on there. But she was certain that if Atobe was part of it, then the rest of his minions would be too. And she didn't feel like dealing with them at the moment.

---[---

Tezuka sighed, finally realizing where they were. The country of St. Rudolph. This really wasn't good news. He hoped they could just sleep a night, then pass through on their merry way. But he knew that it wouldn't happen. 'Oh no.' he thought. 'Mizuki will say something, and then all hell will break loose.'

He could already tell the tensai was frustrated. Maybe even angry. But he was certain of the frustration. Really, though, Tezuka was surprised that he hadn't seen this coming. They were taking the most round about way to get to Hyotei, and that involved going through just about every small country around. St. Rudolph included.

He managed to block out Momoshiro, Kaido and Haseo the entire day, and tried hard to concentrate on his head knight. He could never figure out what Fuji was thinking. It was just too hard. But those three and their bickering weren't helping his concentration any. But he couldn't tell them to shut up without explaining why it was important they do.

So he kept his mouth shut, choosing to try and endure the stupidity of the day instead of causing more confusion and trouble.

'But the trouble would come anyway.' he reminded himself. So long as they were in St. Rudolph, Mizuki still had a chance to make an appearance. And that would only piss off Fuji, which is something Tezuka had only seen once, and he never wanted to witness it again.

He just hoped they could leave here without incident.

---[---

"Want another piece of the puzzle?"

Tezuka jumped. No, it was definitely safe to say he hadn't expected Haseo to make an appearance in his window, of all places. He supposed he would have to get Haseo's back story, if he didn't get if from Rachel's.

"Yes." he answered after fighting his inner thoughts. He was thinking too much recently.

"Well, let's see." Haseo said, positioning himself in a more comfortable position in the window sill. Really, there wasn't a way to get completely comfortable, but he supposed some was better than none. "What's your question for today?"

Tezuka thought for a moment. He hadn't thought of a single question he wanted to ask, but he had thought of several of them. There were so many things he wanted to know, but he wasn't quite sure where to start. Rachel's story must be complex, or else she wouldn't have gone through such lengths to hide it from everyone.

"Why did you and Rachel travel through Fudomine, and St. Rudolph? People here know her too. And I'm quite sure she hasn't been here, teleport spell or not. It seems like she's settled in Seigaku for the time being." Tezuka said.

"That's an easy question to answer." Haseo sighed. "Life at home was boring. We needed something to do. And the people there were thoroughly succeeding in pissing Rachel off to no end. What with all the stupidity that flows through that country. It's hard not to get frustrated with it all."

"Stupidity? That would be present everywhere." Tezuka sighed, feeling like he hadn't gotten much information for the question. "Wouldn't she get angry and frustrated everywhere then?"

"No. That's not how Rachel is. The people there, well, she has her reasons for thinking of them all stupid. And it's probably one of the only things I won't tell you, out of respect for her." Haseo explained. "It's something she doesn't want anyone to know about her. Only myself, a few of our friends from home, and Ryoma know."

"Ryoma?" Tezuka paused. "He knows?"

"Ah, we'll save that for another piece of the puzzle. And I can guarantee it's something I won't tell you about just yet. It'll be more fun to wait that one out and see how you react to it later." Haseo smiled, standing up in the window. "Trust me, when we get the kid, you'll know everything you need to know."

"Will I really? I feel like I haven't gotten anywhere with you."

"Of course not. But you're farther along than you would have been with Rachel." Haseo said. "She would have you try to break a locked door down before telling you the key was in your pocket."

"Why all the secrets?" Tezuka asked in a whisper.

Haseo smiled. "'Only people worth my time would go to such lengths to break them.' She told me that when I asked her the same question. Keep prying. You'll get all the answers to ask for."

Tezuka nodded and Haseo left the window, probably back to his own room for sleep. Tomorrow would be a long day, if they could escape without Mizuki noticing.

---[---

"Aniki!"

All turned around at the male running towards them. Tezuka cursed his luck. He was hoping that no one would notice them. This person especially. Although, it would be good for Fuji, it wouldn't be good if Mizuki showed up out of nowhere.

"Ah, Yuuta." Fuji smiled.

Oishi turned to Tezuka. "Yuuta?" he asked.

Tezuka nodded in the brunette's direction. "Fuji's younger brother." he explained. "Fuji Yuuta."

Everyone looked shocked, except Haseo and Kaido, who didn't seem to care either way, and turned to watch the two brothers converse.

"How have you been, Yuuta?" Fuji smiled as he asked the question.

Yuuta nodded. "Good. It's been such a long time since I've seen you, aniki." Yuuta smiled. "How's it been in Seigaku?"

"Alright I suppose. We had a bit of trouble earlier this week, but we're dealing with it now." Fuji explained. "So there won't be much of a problem left."

Yuuta nodded. "Was it Hyotei? I've heard rumors that they're starting to make a move towards the west. Towards all of us little countries. Although, Seigaku isn't that small. I guess it'd be a good place to take over first."

"I suppose you're right." Fuji sighed.

Yuuta opened his mouth to say something further about their topic, but he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. "Uh, aniki, let's go this way!" he said, rushing just a bit, his words jumbling together to form something incoherent.

Fuji gave off a confused look, as did everyone else except Tezuka. Tezuka sighed, knowing that it was too late. There might be blood shed here today. Mizuki Hajime was headed their way. And they were already spotted.

"Well, well. If it isn't Fuji Syuusuke of Seigaku. What brings you to St. Rudolph?"

"Ah, Mizuki san." Fuji smiled, and Tezuka and Yuuta knew that the world was about to end for Mizuki. Why didn't he just understand that Fuji hated him? Did he not know who Fuji is?

"You know, I've been waiting for you to return here." Mizuki smiled. He suddenly pointed at Fuji and yelled "I want a rematch!"

Tezuka wanted to grab hold of Fuji and drag him away, since he knew that Fuji would never back down from this challenge. But he also wanted to keep his life.

"Gomen, Mizuki san. But we currently have something to do, and it doesn't involve me playing a match with you. Perhaps on our return trip..." Fuji said, shocking both Yuuta and Tezuka.

Both looked at each other, surprised. "Ne, Tezuka kun, what exactly is aniki planning?" Yuuta asked, a bit frightened to call Fuji Syuusuke his aniki.

Tezuka shook his head. "It's Fuji we're talking about here. I have no idea. At any rate, we should get out here, before he changes his mind."

Yuuta nodded, and took hold of one of Fuji's arms. Tezuka held Yuuta in a high place on his list of people he thought courageous, since Yuuta was the only person who would sanely grab onto Fuji in a time like this. Tezuka would rather let the tensai wreak havoc than try to stop him.

"Saa, aniki! Let's head this way, shall we?" Yuuta said, pulling Fuji along. "Ne, Mizuki san, I'll see you later!"

"Later, hmm? Yuuta?" Fuji said, glancing up at Yuuta.

"It's nothing! Aniki! Really!" Yuuta said, not looking at Fuji. He might loose his nerve to keep going.

---[---

Haseo let out a huge sigh as the party exited the busy streets of St. Rudolph and entered a quieter side street. Eiji happened to catch the sigh.

"Hoi! Haseo! Why are you sighing?" he asked, jumping on and latching himself to Haseo.

Haseo glared out in front of him, since he couldn't turn his head enough to glare at Eiji without breaking his neck. "That Mizuki."

With this being said, everyone else turned and looked at him.

"Hmm? You know Mizuki?" Fuji asked what Tezuka hoped was a completely innocent question.

"Oh, that reminds me." Yuuta said, gaining everyone's attention. "I meant to ask why you're here, but uh, Mizuki interrupted my thoughts."

Haseo pointed to Tezuka. "Thanks to this one's relationship with a certain someone [Tezuka nearly blushed at the statement., I'm stuck on this rescue mission." Haseo sighed again. "Why does she make me do such things..."

"I'm surprised Rachel isn't with you." Yuuta laughed. "You two go together like, how did she phrase it, oh, butter and toast!"

Haseo glared at the St. Rudolph citizen. "I will kill you."

"At any rate," Tezuka cut in, afraid for Haseo's life, since he caught the glare that Fuji cast in Haseo's direction. "Rachel didn't come with us."

"That's a shame." Yuuta smiled. "It was always more fun with her around."

"That's only because you didn't live with that blasted woman." Haseo shot back. "You weren't as close as she and I were."

"That's why she said butter and toast!" Yuuta smirked.

"Jerk." Haseo said, looking in another direction.

"So wait, you two know each other?" Oishi asked, confused. "It seems a lot of people know you and Rachel both."

Haseo nodded. "Yeah, why is that so strange?" Oishi blushed at the question, feeling like he was imposing on Haseo's personal life.

Yuuta laughed. "So no one knows about your escapes across the land?"

Haseo shook his head. "No one asked, so therefore, no one would know."

"Seo chan has a point! Nya!" Kikumaru smiled, jumping on Haseo and smiling.

"What? Wait! Don't you start calling me Seo chan now!" Haseo nearly hollered out, if it hadn't been for the lack of breath thanks to Kikumaru's 'hug of doom', as Tezuka referred to it.

"But Rachel san comes up with the coolest nicknames!" Kikumaru argued, but none the less continued with his thought before. "It's not like we asked him if he'd been here before. We all just assumed, nya!"

"But Haseo kun could be more open with us, even though we are all strangers." Fuji stated. "Since we are all traveling together, we might as well get to know one another."

"That's pointless." Haseo sighed, finally getting out of Kikumaru's death grip. "It's not like I'll be around for awhile after we rescue this kid."

"But you're with them now." Yuuta pointed out.

Haseo glared. "Shut up you. You're not helping me at all." He paused to sigh. "This is turning out just like before... Why is it you gang up with everyone else against me?"

Yuuta smiled. "It's more fun that way."

Kaido decided to let out a 'fssh' at this very moment, since Momoshiro had fallen asleep standing up. It was then they heard Inui mutter something about data again, although they hadn't heard it at all since the conversation began.

"Tell me, Inui." Fuji started. "How many pages did you just fill up?"

Inui smiled. "Enough." he said. "But we should probably go to an inn, or something. Since Momoshiro is out cold, it appears."

To prove his point, he lightly poked Momoshiro on the arm, and the boy toppled over. Inui sweat dropped as he readjusted his glasses.

Momo jerked awake, jumping to his feet. "What? What's going on?" he asked, completely awake now.

Everyone just shook their heads at him, disappointed.

'These people are all supposed to help save Echizen?' Tezuka thought to himself as he eyed his party. But that hadn't been what Rachel said. She had said that everyone here had a reason to go. 'But that doesn't necessarily mean everyone here should have come.' he thought bitterly. They were slow.

---[---

Tezuka slowly opened his eyes. His surrounding were...familiar, but he felt that he shouldn't be here... He glanced to the side and noticed the plush pillows and clean walls and realized he was home.

He shot up, thinking that everything had been a dream. He hadn't been sleeping well before everything started, maybe it was his body's way of telling him to get more sleep. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and walked out of the room.

He walked the halls for what felt like an hour, before realizing no one else was there. The halls were empty, there was no noise, and it scared him. What if it all hadn't been a dream? What if he'd been hurt in the process, and while in an unconscious state, everyone else left? But that wouldn't make sense. How would he have gotten to his bed then? Someone else must be there.

The entrance to the main hall had been blocked off, probably from the attack, and this had worried Tezuka. He saw a window and decided to climb out of it, and go in through the front gates. His plan worked, since the gates were already slightly ajar.

He walked into the main hall, and he turned around as a down pour began outside, and strong winds closed the gates. He turned around once more, and saw Echizen Ryoma laying on the ground, bloody and seemingly torn to pieces. But he was breathing, Tezuka could tell.

"Ryoma!" he yelled, running to the boy. He hadn't gotten halfway before someone got in his way: Atobe Keigo, previously known as Aihara Ryoki.

"Ah, prince. Ore sama was beginning to wonder if you'd ever show up!" Atobe smirked. "You do want your _boy toy_, ne?"

Tezuka glared at him. "Don't call him that." he growled out. "What the hell do you want with him anyway?!"

Atobe laughed. "That's good, prince. Let out your anger. You'll be much more angry later."

Tezuka only glared at Atobe. What was the man thinking? Tezuka couldn't be sure. He didn't know who Atobe was anymore. "Get out of my way, Atobe."

"Hmm?" Atobe smirked. "Or what? Will you kill Ore sama?" he asked mockingly.

"If I have to." Tezuka answered, more serious than ever before. He'd never actually been in a real battle before, and he'd never been in a situation where one man needed to kill the other to survive. He wasn't sure if he had the guts to kill him.

Atobe's laughter filled the room. "That's great, Tezuka!" he yelled, tossing a sword to Tezuka. "Then kill me, so you can get your toy over there!"

Tezuka held the sword in his hand for a few moments. Well, he supposed he had no choice now. It was either let both himself and Ryoma get killed, although him living and Ryoma dying was a more probable outcome, or kill Atobe right now and save them both.

Tezuka pointed the sword towards Atobe. "You'll die right here, Atobe!" he yelled, suddenly lunging forward, trying to pierce through Atobe's torso.

Atobe easily dodged the attack, and before Tezuka could react at all, Atobe swung his own sword down, giving Tezuka a large cut on his left side.

Tezuka held his side with his right arm, as he held the sword still pointing in Atobe's direction.

"You're failing at this, Tezuka." Atobe spoke. "At this rate, you'll die, and leave your toy for me to play with. But who knows." Atobe smirked here. "I might break it."

Tezuka's eyes went wide. He hadn't thought of that. Sure, it'd be much easier for Atobe to kill him, and do whatever he wanted with Ryoma. And this heavily angered Tezuka. "I won't give you that chance!" Tezuka hollered, and lunged again.

"Don't get angry Tezuka!" Atobe smirked.

Atobe shook his head, dodged to his left this time. "Anger dulls the blade, after all." he chuckled and brought his sword down to slash at Tezuka again. But he hadn't expected to hear the 'clink' of metal. He looked down to find Tezuka blocking his attack.

Atobe was confused, and Tezuka took complete advantage of it and pushed Atobe back, causing the prince to loose his balance. Tezuka took this opportunity to slash Atobe.

Atobe hissed as the sword came into contact with his flesh. He hadn't expected it, to be honest. He clamped an arm over his chest, he could feel the blood seeping into his sleeve.

"Atobe." Tezuka huffed. He was so out of breath, and he was loosing blood fast. "Anger may dull my blade, but it'll hurt a hell of a lot more when I cut you."

Atobe smirked at this. "Do you really think you can save your toy?" he asked. "He's in a worse condition than either of us, and he's been there, bleeding, for far longer than we've been here fighting."

Tezuka's eyes widened at the thought. He turned on his heel and looked to Ryoma. The boy's eyes were open. He must've witnessed the whole fight, or at least a majority of it. He was smiling and Tezuka swore he was crying.

"Ryoma!" he exclaimed, starting to run towards the boy. Atobe smirked behind him, and Tezuka looked horrified as a gigantic black pool of what appeared to be darkness surrounded Ryoma. Tezuka started to run faster, but the pool of darkness turned into a hand, it's fingers gripping onto Ryoma's body. Ryoma mouthed something, looking desperate, and held out his hand for Tezuka to grab onto. But the hand dragged the boy down before Tezuka could do a thing.

Tezuka gasped, but then realized he was no longer in the castle. He was outside, at the tennis courts where he usually met Ryoma at night. He heard familiar humming.

"In the land of twilight, under the moon." he heard. "We dance for the idiots. Ring around the roses, jump to the moon. We sing with the castanets."

Tezuka looked up, and saw Ryoma sitting on the wall, singing. "Kaasan." Ryoma stated. "would sing that to me all the time, when I was little and couldn't fall asleep." he explained, but Tezuka had already heard this explanation once before. "But you don't seem to have much problems with trying to sleep."

"What do you mean?" Tezuka asked.

Ryoma chuckled. "It's not obvious?" he asked, trying to conceal his amusement. Ryoma started to hum the song again. "Ne, Kunimitsu?" he said after a little while.

"What?" Tezuka asked, feeling so dejected he thought he wouldn't be able to go on any longer.

"Your dreams are only toying with you." Ryoma smiled. Ryoma turned his head and smiled at Tezuka. Ryoma jumped off the wall and faced Tezuka. He still smiled up at the prince, and placed his hands on Tezuka's face. "You'll still come save me, right?"

---[---

Tezuka shot up, completely awake. He placed a hand on his head. He was sweating. He sighed, trying to calm his racing heart. It'd been awhile since he had a nightmare, let alone a dream.

"Tezuka?"

Tezuka turned his head and saw that Fuji was looking at him through the darkness of night. He looked around. The woods were a little ominous. He was so desperate to get Fuji out of St. Rudolph and away from Mizuki, that he suggested they keep on going, instead of staying another night in St. Rudolph. And they had decided to set up came off the road and into the woods.

"Are you alright?" Fuji asked, since Tezuka hadn't replied.

"I'm fine." Tezuka answered after a moment. "I just had a nightmare, I'm fine."

Fuji chuckled. "It sounds so childish, hearing that from you."

Tezuka blushed and was damn happy Fuji couldn't see it. "Did I wake you?"

"Not really." Fuji explained, deciding to leave that topic for another discussion later. "I was already semi-ly awake, but you're tossing and turning made me curious." Fuji was quiet, and Tezuka hadn't said anything in reply. "Saa, Tezuka." Fuji said slowly. "Just who is this Echizen Ryoma to you?"

Tezuka was quiet, staring straight out in front of him. "He's a friend." he finally answered.

Fuji sighed quietly, so Tezuka didn't hear. He knew that Tezuka wasn't telling the whole truth. The boy was much more than that, but Fuji wasn't sure how much more. The only thing he could think of was that Echizen Ryoma was a friend, one of so much importance, that Tezuka snuck out every night to go see, that Tezuka kept secret from everyone.

Fuji watched as Tezuka lay back down, assuming that the conversation was done, or telling Fuji silently that he didn't want to talk about it anymore. He let out a slightly louder sigh when he knew for sure Tezuka was asleep.

Maybe Echizen Ryoma was so important because he was one of the few people Tezuka knew outside of the castle.

---[---

He blinked his eyes a few times, unsure of why everything was so bright. He turned his head. He wasn't in a familiar place. No, everything here looked expensive yet old and outdated at the same time. Suddenly, one of the songs his mother sung came into mind.

He started to hum it as he stood up from the extravagant bed he was laying on. It wouldn't hurt to explore. It might give him some clues as to what happened before he blacked out.

He could remember feeding Karupin before hearing a loud explosion, somewhere near the castle. When he turned to look, there was someone there, and that was all he remembered.

Ryoma started to hum a little quieter than before, since he knew he was probably nowhere near Seigaku. He stuck his head out the door and looked up and down the hallway before finally emerging.

He walked around for what seemed like hours, his humming finally stopping, since he was feeling a little more comfortable wherever he was. His mother's voice always calmed him when he was young, and now her songs did that in her absence.

He turned and walked into the largest room he'd seen so far. And he knew for a fact it was or once was a throne room, since there were two seats on a risen platform. The room looked like it had once been very extravagant, but it looked too dusty and run down for use.

He walked into the middle of the room, and noticed a large painting behind the risen thrones. Ryoma blushed, feeling ashamed with himself, since the first thought that ran through his mind was 'he's good looking.' He felt like he was being disloyal to Kunimitsu somehow.

He took a second glance at the painting, and his eyes widened.

"It seems you finally get it." he heard whispered into his ear.

He jumped and turned around immediately. He was shocked, to say the least, to have the man in the painting standing right before him. "Who are you?" Ryoma immediately asked.

The man chuckled at his reactions. "Atobe Keigo." he bowed. "And you," he said, smirking. "are Tezuka Kunimitsu's _playmate_."

"What?" Ryoma asked, confused.

Atobe chuckled. "Would it be more accurate to call you his toy, then?" he asked.

"I'm neither." Ryoma answered, rather bluntly.

"Aw, now that's not true." Atobe smiled. "Since you two have been meeting secretly at night for the past year, is it?"

Ryoma blushed. "How...how did you know that?"

Atobe laughed louder. "It seems I've hit the jackpot." he smiled again. "But it doesn't matter how I know it." he smirked now, taking on a dangerous tone. Atobe leaned in close to Ryoma, his lips centimeters away from Ryoma's ear. "Since Tezuka isn't around to play with you, why don't you let me?"

Ryoma blushed and immediately backed out. "No." he said. He looked around for the nearest exit, thinking he could make a quick escape, but noticed six others in the room. 'Damn, probably guards or something.' he thought bitterly.

"Come now, you are a toy. And toys are meant to be played with." Atobe smirked, managing to grab hold of Ryoma in his distracted state. "Ore sama won't break you that badly."

Ryoma gulped, knowing full well there wasn't anyway out of this. He'd have to bear with it, as much as he didn't want to. He'd put up a fight, but he knew that it was pointless. They'd either kill him or knock him unconscious. And he didn't want either right now. He'd find a way to escape, one way or another.

And before then, he'd give 'ore sama' his payback.

---[---

"They're being awfully noisy today. Is it a special occasion?" Haseo asked sarcastically, referring to Momoshiro and Kaido, who were, once again, arguing over something no one knew of. Yells of 'baka Mamushi' and 'fssh' were heard since they started walking.

"Haseo." Tezuka said, gaining his attention. "Why did you and Rachel decide to travel around?"

Haseo stared at Tezuka for a moment, surprised that he had asked the question in the presence of everyone else. He wasn't sure if he wanted that. But through his peripheral vision, he could tell that no one was paying attention to them. Fuji, Oishi, Kikumaru and Inui had their attention on Kaido and Momoshiro, who had their attention on each other. It appeared that Tezuka and Haseo were the only two not paying attention to the argument.

"Asking the questions early, aren't we?" Haseo chuckled.

"I didn't ask one yesterday."

"Ah, that's true." They had all slept out in the open, together. If Tezuka had asked a question, any one of their travel companions could have overheard. 'So he does realize this can get to be real personal.' Haseo thought. He smiled. "We got sick of staying home with a bunch of idiots."

"That's it?" Tezuka asked, shocked. He didn't think that would be the reason for their travels.

Haseo shook his head. "Sort of." he said, trying to figure out how he was going to explain this. "There's something that Rachel has always kept secret. Well, since she left home, she's kept secret. I'm sure I could count the number of people outside of home who know on one hand, with fingers to spare." Haseo explained.

Tezuka was about to say something, but he was interrupted.

"Saa, who know what?" Inui smirked, leaning in between the two.

Haseo looked away, uninterested. He'd have to explain the rest to Tezuka later. "Exactly." he smirked, quickening his pace to leave a confused Inui and Tezuka behind a few steps. He hoped they'd reach the next town soon, so he could explain more to Tezuka.

Haseo looked around before sighing. 'Damn, we're only just getting to St. Rudolph's limits. This is going to take forever.'


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

"Hey." Fuji called out, gaining everyone's attention. He raised his arms and hinted towards their surroundings. "Does anyone know where we are?"

Following suit, everyone else looked around. There wasn't even a path anymore. It was just a bunch of trees, bushes, and other plants. Nothing to even give them a hint as to where they are, or even if they were heading in the right direction.

"I guess not." Haseo sighed.

"You've been out this way before." Inui said. "Shouldn't you know where we are?" he asked Haseo.

Haseo shook his head. "I was under the impression you all knew where you were going. I was following, remember?" he said, referring to his taking up the rear with Tezuka.

Tezuka sighed. "So we're lost?"

Everyone was silent. That wasn't something anyone wanted to admit. They all knew they needed to reach Hyotei ASAP or they wouldn't know what would happen to Ryoma. It could be a matter of life or death.

"Why don't we just start walking, and make sure we're walking in one direction?" Momo spoke up. Everyone turned to him. "That's reasonable, isn't it?"

"Fssh, baka." Kaido hissed. Momo glared at the mamushi.

"No." Fuji said. "What if we start walking in the direction we came from?"

"But we need to go somewhere." Tezuka pointed out. "We can't just stay here. Even if we end up where we started from, at least we'll know where we are."

They stood quiet for a moment, some trying to think of a new idea, others contemplating between the two suggestions given. Eventually, they all decided to take Momoshiro's idea and just start walking in one direction.

---[---

"Just what is this forest?!" Haseo yelled, becoming extremely frustrated at the lack of progression. They were nowhere near the edge of the forest, and he was quite certain that they had been walking for at least two hours.

"It's exactly as it seems, Haseo." Inui sighed. "A forest. You can clearly see the trees."

Haseo glared at the back of Inui's head, as if he could burn a hole through it and kill the alchemist. Unfortunately for Haseo, it hadn't worked, and he figured it would never.

"But he has a point. Something is strange here." Fuji sighed, taking a look around. "It doesn't matter where we go. Everything looks exactly the same."

Kikumaru nodded. "We've passed this bush six times." he said, pointing towards said bush.

"And we have been walking in a straight line." Oishi added. "We made sure of it."

Momoshiro sighed, and Kaido let out a 'fssh' before turning away from the group. Tezuka looked around, intent on finding some way out of here.

Finally, not seeing anything, he spoke up. "Haseo, you and Rachel never passed through this forest, did you?"

Haseo never answered, as he suddenly flew towards the floor. In his place stood a person that looked very much like Rachel, only with bright blue hair.

"Nope." she said. "They went North, you all went a little South."

Everyone looked to each other, except Haseo, who stood and glared at the new person.

"What the hell was that for?!"

"Revenge." she smiled. "Since, you know, you guys totally left me."

"Wait, you're still alive? That's shocking." Haseo said, losing all of his anger. "I thought you'd either died or Rachel" he emphasized Rachel's name here, glaring at the girl a little. "just destroyed you."

The girl huffed, understanding the emphasis. "No. I can take care of myself, thank you very much. And stop saying she destroys us."

"Well, what would you call it then?" Haseo asked.

"We disappear into nothingness. Nothing more, nothing less." the girl smiled, feeling like she had won that round.

"Haseo." Fuji smiled, gaining both of their attentions. "Who might this be?" he asked, voicing everyone's question at once.

"Oh." Haseo said. "Right. This would be one of the copies Rachel made of herself during our travels together."

"She had us scout ahead while the group slept or rested or whatever." the copy explained. "So they wouldn't get lost."

"Since this one hadn't come back," Haseo started to explain. "we figured it got lost, so we went on without it."

"That seems mean." Momo scowled.

"Stop calling me an it." the copy huffed, ignoring Momo's comment.

"But you are an it. I'm leaving no room for debate, deal with being an it." Haseo said matter of factly, he too also ignoring Momo's comment.

Momo glared at the ground, feeling left out. He heard Inui scribbling in his notebook and Kaido snickering at him, but decided not to start a fight. He was too dejected to anyway.

"You wouldn't happen to anything about the forest, would you?" Fuji asked, ignoring the argument the two had just had.

The copy nodded. "This forest is split into two." it explained. "This half, the southern portion, is called the Forest of Oblivion. The northern half is called the Forest of Reminiscence."

"You'd think we'd of heard of these forests." Oishi sighed. He turned to face Tezuka. The prince was still showing no emotion. 'But he's usually like this...' Oishi thought to himself.

"Nya, which way is north, then?" Kikumaru asked, with a little too much enthusiasm.

"There's a castle." the copy stated, ignoring the immediate question. Haseo glanced at her, curious, but not wanting to spoil the fun. "I know the way there. If I'm right, it's in the middle, on the outskirts of both forests."

"Let's head there, then." Tezuka said, motioning for the copy to lead the way.

Haseo watched as everyone followed the copy. He wondered what she was up to, since it was a copy of Rachel. Something was up with this castle, otherwise the copy wouldn't have mentioned it the she did.

"Hmmm." Haseo smiled. "This could be a fun detour." he whispered to himself, jogging to catch up.

---[---

"This is it?" Kikumaru asked, staring up at the castle, awed. "It's so big!" he exclaimed, jumping on Oishi.

The castle wasn't that special. It looked like any other castle made in the last century. But this one was old and worn looking, pieces of the upper walls corroding away. The walls themselves looked too dirty to be new or well kept. But Kikumaru was right; it was very large.

"Can we go in?" Tezuka asked the copy.

The copy shook her head. "I'm sure if you went there," she paused to point at the tallest spire. "you'd be able to see which way you need to go."

Tezuka followed the copy's gaze towards the spire with his own. It definitely was the tallest, and there were windows quite near the top, so they very well could see where it was they needed to go. But Tezuka wasn't sure if he trusted this copy enough. Who knew what it did out here.

"Have you been in this castle?" Tezuka asked, facing the copy.

The copy seemed a bit surprised at the question, but smiled. "No." it spoke. "I haven't. I didn't want to go in. I felt that I might get lost inside."

"Seems like something Rachel herself would do." Haseo smirked, glad the mage wasn't anywhere near him.

The copy turned to glare at him. "I'm almost sad I don't have a mental connection with her." it stated, smirking when Haseo gave her a glance.

"Ne, let's go inside!" Momo smiled, running up towards the gate.

"Fssh, baka." Kaido sighed, shaking his head.

"It appears that's the best possible thing to do in our situation." Inui said, finishing up a note in his notebook, then closing it with a nice 'plop'.

"Nya, I wonder what it looks like inside." Kikumaru smiled, running to catch up with Momoshiro. "Ne! Wait for me!"

Fuji sighed, not saying anything, but following, stalking towards the front gates of the castle. Kaido, Inui, Oishi, Haseo and the copy soon followed. Tezuka didn't move for a few moments, taking in the look of the castle. Thinking of nothing in particular, he walked forward, following his companions.

---[---

As Tezuka took a step into the castle, the doors slammed behind him. He just happened to be the last person to walk inside. He glared at the doors, as did everyone else. They were locked inside the castle now.

Tezuka turned to face everyone. "What should we do now?" he asked, extremely drained of energy. "Should we head for the spire?"

"We might as well. We might find another way out on the way there." Fuji said, glancing to Inui.

"It's worth a try."

And with that, they started for stairs of any kind, hoping to reach the spire and a new way out soon.

---[---

"Arg!" Momo moaned. "It's been hours! We haven't found anything!"

"Fssh, stop complaining." Kaido said, still looking straight ahead for anything that might be helpful.

Inui was scribbling away at what Tezuka assumed to be a map in his notebook. Really, with all the notes Inui had taken, he should have filled that notebook by now.

Fuji was quiet, along with Tezuka. Oishi was busy trying to keep Kikumaru occupied. But Haseo had something else on his mind.

They entered a room. It had stained glass windows with the sun shining through. The room was bathed in vibrant colors of blue and violet, with hints of red and orange. The copy walked towards the largest window, everyone else spreading through the room, looking for clues of any kind.

The copy's eyes widened, as the blade of a scythe had appeared around it's neck. It turned it's head to look at the owner, and was met with a smirk.

By now, everyone else had noticed the two, and were quite shocked.

"You have no shadow." Haseo stated, pointing with his free hand towards the ground around the copy. "Wonder why I called you an it?"

The copy smiled, apparently not fazed by the scythe around it's neck. "I was wondering how long it'd take you to notice." It seemed to look mildly defeated.

"It'd been bothering me for awhile." Haseo nodded. "Ever since the forest, but I wasn't too sure until now. Rachel's copies were always lifelike. They had shadows."

"Well, a shadow can't have a shadow of itself." the copy stated. "I'd be in my original form, but I like this one much better. But I guess it can't be helped."

The copy started to change form and Haseo jumped back. The form was now all black, with bright blue eyes. It held the shape of an ordinary human, but it didn't look human. It had no special features of it's own.

"What is it you want?" Haseo asked. "You wouldn't lead us in here for nothing. You must want something from us."

"I sensed an enormous amount of despair." the shadow explained. "I simply want the despair, and the life that goes along with it."

Haseo lunged forward, swinging his scythe, and frowned when the shadow split in two around the weapon. Quickly turning around, he prepared for another swing, but stopped when he realized what the shadow had meant.

The shadow wasn't after Haseo, or Fuji, Inui, Kaido, Momoshiro, Oishi, or Kikumaru. It was after despair. And who in their party held more despair than Tezuka?

The shadow caught everyone off guard, especially Tezuka, who wasn't prepared for the shadow lunging at him. It was unexpected, uncalled for, and most of all, annoying.

"Tezuka!" Fuji yelled, unsheathing his weapon at last, preparing for an attack, but the shadow never appeared. It had lunged right into Tezuka's body.

Tezuka's body fell straight to the floor, landing with a thud and not moving thereafter. Fuji as well as the others ran up to the prince, but he would not awaken at their cries and remained unconscious.

Haseo stood back. "What could it do with despair?" he wondered out loud.

---[---

Tezuka felt weird. And he had a feeling it partially had to do with his new attire. He now donned a pair of jeans and tight fitting t shirt.

His surroundings weren't what he remembered them to be either. Instead of a forest and castles and villages, tall buildings surrounded him. Cars drove down the paved streets around him, and people were all dressed like he was now. It all confused him.

"Ne, Kunimitsu." he heard a familiar voice huff. "Gomen, I'm late."

Tezuka immediately turned around. There, bent over and gasping for breath, was Echizen Ryoma...who hardly looked like the Ryoma he knew. The face and body were the same, but his attire and voice were slightly off.

"Aa." was all he replied with. Did he really know this Ryoma?

Ryoma smiled and opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted.

"Oi! Echizen! Tezuka buchou!"

Ryoma scowled and looked across the street. There stood Momoshiro, smiling and waving at the two of them. Tezuka did not wave back, as he did not understand why the other male had called him 'Tezuka buchou'. What was going on?

"Momo senpai!" Ryoma said as the older boy rushed up and ruffled his hair. "What are you doing?!" he yelled, pushing Momo aside and standing next to Tezuka.

Momo smirked. "Ne, the two of you on a date again?"

At this, Ryoma promptly blushed and grasped onto Tezuka's shirt sleeve. "Dakara?" Ryoma muttered out, still embarrassed.

Momo laughed. "Well, I guess I'll leave you to it, then." he smirked again, looking in Echizen's direction. "Don't do too much tonight, though. We still have a tournament tomorrow!" he said before rushing off, not wanting any punishment from either Tezuka or Ryoma.

"Like we were going to do anything anyway." Ryoma huffed, even though Momo was already down the street. Ryoma lost interest and looked up at Tezuka, smiling. "Shall we go?" he asked, grasping a bag on his shoulder that Tezuka hadn't noticed before.

"Where?" Tezuka felt compelled to ask. Really, at this point he thought he shouldn't have, but he blurted the words out too fast to stop them.

Ryoma laughed. "The public courts, of course." he said, smiling at Tezuka, making the prince feel warm inside. "Tennis is was we planned for today, ne?"

Tezuka nodded, now noticing a bag similar to Ryoma's on his shoulder. Had that been there the whole time? "Lead the way." he said, feeling like he could at least pull this off.

Ryoma smiled, leaned forward to interlace their fingers, and pulled Tezuka off, towards what he understood was the tennis courts.

---[---

They walked up what Tezuka thought was a bazillion (I know, not a number and totally not something Tezuka would ever say) stairs. And when they finally reached the top, an odd sense of déjà vu hit him, hard.

Ryoma scowled, glancing over all the people on the courts once. "It's crowded today."

Tezuka recognized several people, but they hardly looked anything like he remembered.

"Oi! Echizen!" a person who oddly looked like Kamio hollered and ran up to them. "Where's Seigaku's famed Mamushi? I'm in the rhythm today."

"I guess your rhythm will have to wait." Ryoma smirked. "Kaido sempai isn't here, obviously."

Tezuka recognized Kaido's name, as well as the nickname, since he'd heard Momoshiro call him that when they argued. But he'd never heard him be called 'Seigaku's famed Mamushi' before. Just where the hell was he?

"Ah, I guess ore sama was right to show up today."

Ryoma and Tezuka turned around, and Kamio glared slightly the man standing before them.

"Mm?" Ryoma smirked, not catching the surprised look on Tezuka's face. It only flashed for a mere second, but he supposed a second was all anyone needed to see it. "Monkey King is playing on peasant courts today?"

Atobe smirked. "Just today." he said, deciding to ignore the nickname Ryoma had given him. "So how about it brat? Let's play a match for my prize."

Atobe held out a racket and pointed it in Ryoma's direction. Ryoma smirked, grabbing Tezuka's hand again.

"Sorry, Monkey King. I'm not here to play you today." Ryoma stated matter-of-factly. He turned around, pulling Tezuka past Kamio and off towards the farthest court. Tezuka turned to look back just in time to see a grumpy Atobe.

But as Ryoma was pulling him along, he had to wonder. Where was he? This looked nothing like home. And he was sure he was hallucinating. The last thing he remembered was the copy of Rachel that had started to fight with Haseo. But where were they now?

And why is it that Ryoma is here? He knew that it couldn't be the exact Ryoma from his world, since the raven haired boy hadn't said two words about it.

And the question that was loudest in his head was what prize was Atobe talking about?

Suddenly, a racket was thrust into his hand and he looked down to see a smiling Ryoma. "I told you I wouldn't brake it." Ryoma grabbed a ball and moved to the other side of the court. "Ready?"

Oh well, this couldn't be that bad. A match with Ryoma was always worthwhile. He bent down, ready to receive Ryoma's serve and send it right back.

"Yes."

---[---

"He's got a fever." Fuji pointed out, watching as beads of sweat rolled off Tezuka's face.

The prince had yet to awaken in the four hours they stayed at the castle. They hadn't seen the shadow anywhere either, so they all assumed it was still within Tezuka.

Haseo was most worried, since he had no idea what stealing Tezuka's despair would do to the prince. Haseo had never seen someone have an emotion stolen, and he wished that Rachel had been with them. She should have some experience with it. 'She would have known what to do.' he thought, feeling stupid.

"What are we going to do?" Oishi asked. "Without Tezuka..."

Oishi didn't dare finish the sentence. He was implying too much as it was. Saying 'without Tezuka' meant that he thought the prince would die. And he really didn't. But he was also implying that without Tezuka, they really had no reason to go to Hyotei. At least, he, Kikumaru, and Fuji didn't have a reason.

Echizen Ryoma wasn't anyone important to them.

"Well, it seems you all have hit a huge set back."

All turned around to see Rachel looking at a nearby bookshelf. She pulled a book partially out, stared at it with a look of disgust as dust poured off of it, and replaced it. She turned to look at them all, almost as if she thought they were stupid.

"It's about time." Haseo said, glaring at her.

"Your thoughts of hate made me late, Seo chan." Rachel smiled. "At any rate, would anyone care to explain? This seems like a mess." Rachel said, ignoring the intense glare Haseo directed at her. She gestured towards Tezuka, as everyone grew quieter, if it was possible to get past absolute silence.

"It wants despair." Haseo spoke up, ignoring everyone's silence. He wanted this trip done and over with soon, so he could say that he owed Rachel nothing.

"And what exactly is it?" Rachel asked, tapping her foot, a sign of annoyance. "You're being very vague, and that means you're stupid."

"Shut up. I don't know what it was." Haseo said, glaring even more. "It just looked like a shadow. And it took the form of one of your stupid copies."

"I wonder what happened to that copy." Rachel said, but then turned towards Tezuka. "Well, there's nothing I can do."

"What do mean? I thought you could do anything!" Haseo sighed.

"Not with these things. I hate these things. Plus, I've never encountered one before." Rachel explained. "I've only ever read about them in books."

"And none of those books told you how to deal with whatever this is?" Haseo asked, since everyone was just listening in on their conversation. 'Yeah, way to go!' he thought sarcastically.

"What you're referring to is the physical form of despair, a creature called zetsubo." Rachel explained. "And no, since the authors of the books had only observed from afar, and ran off like morons." Rachel knelt next to Tezuka, a serious look on her face. "There's a lot of different types and they all want different emotions. The entire group has been labeled _kanjo ushinatta_."

Rachel stood again and walked off towards Haseo. "Not many people have survived something like this, having an emotion stolen. It's like taking a part of someone's soul." she said, smiling now. "But then again, they haven't come across me until now, ne?"

Rachel smirked, turned and leapt in Tezuka's direction. She vanished inches from his body.

"Haseo, what was she just talking about?" Oishi asked.

Momo nodded. "She's always been hard to understand."

Kaido let out a 'fssh' and Inui took out his notebook. Eiji huffed and looked in Haseo's direction, glaring. Fuji was the next to speak.

"Where is she now?"

Haseo just let his mouth hang open, shocked. To be honest with himself and everyone else, he hadn't much of a clue as to what Rachel was talking about anyway. Something about creatures that steal emotion, and a bunch of other gibberish that he didn't understand.

"I don't know." he said, because it was the only thing he could.

---[---

Tezuka sighed. He wasn't quite sure where he was now. He understood that he was supposed to be at Ryoma's house, but this wasn't the Ryoma he remembered. And this most definitely didn't seem like a place his Ryoma would live.

He looked down at Ryoma's sleeping figure. They had long since finished their match, and Tezuka even had time to play the Atobe of this reality, whatever and wherever this reality was. He had won both matches. And Tezuka had learned of Atobe's 'prize'. It had been Ryoma himself as the prize.

Ryoma hadn't seemed too pleased that they were playing a match over him, but Tezuka hadn't known that he was doing just that when he agreed to play Atobe. But since Tezuka had won anyway, Ryoma was his normal self, or what Tezuka knew to be Ryoma's normal self here.

He sat up, his back facing Ryoma. His thinking was giving him a headache. Was this reality? Or was this a dream? He wasn't too sure, but he felt like he knew all of this, that everything here had once been real to him. But he was quite certain that he hadn't been here before today. And this was just one big circle his mind was running in. He didn't need to be thinking of this.

"You're damn straight on that part."

Tezuka jumped, and gawked as one of most familiar things came and sat down next to him on the bed. "What?" he felt compelled to ask, since he had seen a Rachel earlier, and that one wasn't even called Rachel, like everyone else had their original names. But this Rachel, she had to be the one he knew from his reality. And he was right.

"Why are you giving me that look?" she asked, ignoring the fact that Ryoma was sleeping inches from her. "You thought that you didn't need to be thinking of any of that, and you were right. I'm merely agreeing with you."

"That's not what I mean." Tezuka said, glaring at her. "What is going on?"

"Ah!" Rachel exclaimed, smiling. She turned and pointed towards Ryoma. "That one can explain everything, can't you?"

Ryoma scoffed, and then sat up, giving Rachel one of the most sinister looks Tezuka had ever seen. "What?" he asked yet again.

"You're feeding this thing your despair directly." Rachel said, losing her smile. "But isn't that what you were going for?"

"Of course." Ryoma said, smiling. "Did you come here thinking you could save him?"

Rachel shook her head. "Now that's a stupid question. Why the hell else would I be here?" she asked. "I'm not as stupid as you think, and I am quite sure you haven't come across someone like me at all."

"You're just a mage, how difficult can you be?" Ryoma asked, losing his form, turning into a shadow with bright blue eyes, a shadow that Tezuka now recognized. It was that thing that lead them into the castle.

"That's where you're wrong." Rachel smirked. "I'm not just any mage, but these words are wasted on something like you."

This seemed to irritate the shadow, and their surrounding went pitch black. The bed they were sitting on disappeared, Tezuka fell to the floor while Rachel immediately stood.

"I'll kill you." they heard the shadow, more than saw it, speak, thanks to it blending in with it's surroundings. "I don't need despair, so long as your smart ass is dead!"

"I think I'll do the killing." Rachel smiled. She raised a hand, and Tezuka watched dumbfounded as she mouthed something and snapped, sending the room into vibrant colors of blue, white, and purple.

The shadow was immediately visible, shielding itself from the brightness. It happened to look down to Rachel, who was approaching it.

"You're a shadow, a remnant of something. Pure darkness. The essence of actual despair." Rachel explained. "And you can't exist without your opposite counterpart. That being light, hope."

The shadow seemed shocked to see her walking towards it, but it didn't move. Rachel made a quick hand movement, and a strip of light collided with the shadow. It shrieked in pain, and then again when Rachel repeated the movement with both her hands, one after the other.

"You can't win." Rachel said. "Not while I'm here. You can't win."

She crossed both arms and raised them above her head. She brought them down quickly, and a final shriek from the shadow erupted from it's lungs.

The room went black once more, but then in an instant, they were standing in a field of flowers. Tezuka stood and looked at the different flowers.

"Where are we?" he finally asked, after the question floated around in his head for while.

Rachel smiled, standing next to him. "Where do you think?" she laughed. "This is your inner world."

"A field of flowers?" Tezuka felt compelled to ask. He didn't think any inner world would like much like this. Especially his. He thought that there would be more chaos, not calm.

"It was your favorite place to go with him, wasn't it?" Rachel asked. Tezuka looked at her, confused for only a moment, for she continued to speak. "Well. It's about time we head back, ne?" she asked, smiling at him again.

He nodded, not sure what exactly she meant. Go back where? He got his answer when he found himself staring hard at the ceiling of the castle they had previously entered. He sat up, not completely surprised to be surrounded by everyone else.

Fuji looked back and forth between Tezuka and Rachel, every now and again glancing in Haseo's direction. Rachel was smiling, Tezuka looked confused, and Haseo just looked like he could care less. He wasn't sure who he wanted to converse with first, Rachel or Tezuka. It was all too confusing for him.

Inui didn't care for asking questions, as did Kaido. Inui stood with his notebook out, jotting down little things about everyone in the room. Kaido stood with his back facing the group, apparently not caring.

Momo was trying to keep himself from yelling. He was so confused, and he'd been that way since this whole thing started.

"Tezuka." Oishi spoke up. Kikumaru had a hand grasping Oishi's shirt sleeve. "Are you alright?"

The question was on everyone's mind, whether it was first or somewhere in between the non important and important questions. Every single one of them stared at Tezuka, who simply looked to each one of them calmly.

"I'm fine." he answered after a long silent moment. "I think."

"Yes, he's fine. Maybe a little tired, but he's generally fine." Rachel smiled.

"And what the hell are you doing here?" Momo asked finally, since that was the question that was first on his mind. Tezuka could be the most important person in their party, but Rachel came first. Who knew what she was thinking, or why she did things. Momo was about to find out, or so he hoped.

"What would you do without me, Shiro chan?" she asked, half sarcastically. She shook her head. "What would you all have done if I hadn't shown up, hmm?" she asked him.

"The sarcasm isn't needed." Haseo said, stepping forward. "But I say we get the fuck out of here. I don't want to deal with that idiocy again."

Everyone nodded. It was a good idea. Tezuka stood up. He glanced at everyone around the room, glad he was given the chance to.

As they exited the castle, Fuji looked towards Rachel. "Are you staying with us now?' he asked her, gaining everyone's attention.

Rachel stared at him for a moment, as if contemplating an answer to it. "No." she finally said.

"But you're here." Oishi pointed out. "Why not?"

'Because I'd hinder everything, morons.' she thought, but chose not to say it out loud for fear of being too harsh. "I have other things I need to do before I join up with you." she replied. "I really should get back. I left the shop open."

"How did you know about this, Rachel?" Inui asked. "You said before that Haseo's thoughts made you late. But you also said that you couldn't read minds."

'Wow, I'm so surprised that someone caught that. But it is Inui after all. That bastard.' Rachel scowled. "It's called sarcasm." she said, using it as an excuse for the truth. "And I can't quite explain why I knew you all were in trouble. Let's just say I knew."

"I'm gonna laugh if your shop has been robbed by the time you get back." Haseo smirked. Rachel glared at him, and he knew that she was going to do something to him later, when they were done with all of this. "Just get going. We'll be fine, from here out. Besides, we know you can pop up out of nowhere to help." he smirked again.

"You never know. I may be too busy to help you, Seo chan." Rachel smirked. "At any rate. Don't any of you die, please. I don't want to have to deal with that. Especially you." she glared, pointing to Tezuka. "And you know damn well why." Rachel was quiet for a moment, but then smiled. "I guess I'll see you when I see you. Later, guys."

And with that, the mage was gone.

---[---

"Nya, why is Rachel so secretive?" Kikumaru sighed as the group began walking north.

"She's always been like that." Haseo answered. "Everyone has their secrets. She just holds onto them tighter than anyone alive."

"But I hardly even know anything about her." Kikumaru whined, rushing up to walk next to Haseo.

Haseo turned his head slightly to look at the redhead out of the corner of his eye. "She likes it that way. She's learned to not trust everyone."

"She thinks we're not trustworthy?" Kikumaru asked, looking down like the statement hurt him.

"On the contrary." Haseo sighed. "It's not you she doesn't trust. It's herself. She usually puts too much on herself, so when she fails at something, she feels bad about it for a long time." Haseo recalled just a few months before they left on their adventure that Rachel had tired herself out so much that she couldn't perform any spells at all.

_"I'm not going to tell anyone about myself anymore." _Haseo recalled Rachel saying as they left. _"If people know, then I feel obliged to help with every problem, and my body can't handle that, regardless of me being the high mage."_

Haseo looked to everyone. How would they all react to learning about Rachel's secrets? They weren't all nice, considering how she became the high mage. Did they even know what a high mage was? If so, did they know why a high mage was classified as a high mage?

He sighed. What was she going to do when everyone here found out?

---[---

Fuji and Tezuka had been far ahead of the group during Haseo's conversation with Kikumaru. The knight was highly concerned for the prince. Tezuka had been quiet during the last hour, and he seemed to not notice Fuji's presence, which was odd for the prince.

"Tezuka." Fuji said and waited as Tezuka slowly turned his head to face him. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Tezuka thought about the question for a moment. Sure, physically, he was fine. But mentally, he was certain something was amiss. During the whole ordeal with the shadow creature, he hadn't quite been able to place why that place had been so familiar.

"I'm fine." he answered, not really feeling up to answering more questions, although he predicted they would come anyway.

He and Fuji walked along in silence for awhile, with Tezuka waiting for Fuji to ask something, anything. But nothing came. The conversation was over before either of them knew it.

---[---

They had spent an hour walking in silence. After their encounter with the shadow creature, no one had known what to say. But Momo found something when they came upon a castle.

"Oh...don't tell me we were all just walking in circles!" he hollered, frustrated. "This can't be that same castle."

Momo could hear Kaido 'fssh' in the background, apparently either not caring or calling Momoshiro an idiot. Inui took notes on the castle's exterior while Eiji and Momo continued to complain about the castle. Oishi was trying to calm them both. Haseo sighed, realizing what Inui, Tezuka and Fuji had already.

"It's not the same one, morons." he said, walking closer to it. "Look at the walls. They're all intact still. The other castle was falling apart. Think, please, or we may all die sooner than we're supposed to."

Momo and Eiji blushed and looked away in embarrassment.

"But where is this?" Fuji asked, sighing. He didn't recognize the flag that was flying high above the tallest spire.

Tezuka stared at the flag hard. It's green design was extremely familiar to him, but he wasn't sure why. Ignoring it, he motioned for everyone to follow him into the town. They'd find their answer there.

---[---

But the town seemed empty. As Tezuka looked about, he could hardly tell if anyone or thing was living here. They had walked into what looked like the marketplace, but there were no shops open, no stands busy with customers, and most certainly, no one at all. Tezuka took two slow steps forward before stopping, wondering what was going on.

The town was too clean, too neat, too new-looking for it to be uninhabited at all. The roads were clean and weedless, the buildings looked to have been recently painted, and a stand nearby had fresh fruit out. Everything seemed odd.

Haseo took a few steps and stood next to Tezuka. Fuji followed, but walked three steps ahead. Haseo was about to ask Tezuka a question, something along the lines of 'should we leave' when they heard the unsheathing of a sword. They all looked to Fuji, who had a point of a sword at his neck, and the owner of the weapon smirking at him.

Tezuka put a hand on the hilt of his sword. Haseo summoned his scythe. But neither of them dared to advance on the orange haired assailant. They knew that if they did, Fuji would have a hole in his throat.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

Fuji's orange haired assailant opened his mouth to say something, but as he glanced at the faces of the party, he smiled and laughed. "Lucky. You're very lucky." The sword was pulled away and sheathed, and the owner still smiled.

"What?" Fuji asked, feeling a little embarrassed. It was the first time someone had the chance to point a sword at his throat. "Who are you?"

The swordsman ignored Fuji's question to instead laugh. "If I hadn't noticed Seo chan and the prince, I may have slit your throat." The assailant's smile widened. "You're very lucky that I think before I cut."

Both Tezuka and Haseo scowled at hearing their nicknames. Haseo felt like he wanted to kill Rachel, but he knew that he would never get the chance. He would never try.

"Why is it that her nickname for me sticks with everyone?" Haseo sighed, throwing his hands up in defeat. "Damn, life sucks."

"Ha, you're extremely unlucky when it comes to Rachel, Seo chan. You should really just give up." the assailant laughed. But he stopped suddenly, and eyed everyone. "But why are you all here? I could swear that the prince had said he would never come back, on account of our prince."

"It was an accident. We weren't planning on stopping here." Tezuka sighed, but then he looked at the assailant. "Sengoku, where is everyone? It's been a year since I've been here, and I don't think Yamabuki would be so desolate."

"Oh that." Sengoku laughed. "We haven't liked company or strangers since some men from Hyotei came. Who knew three people could cause such havoc? We were really unlucky that day." he sighed, remembering the event. "It was a bloody massacre." Sengoku looked thoughtful for a second. "But it almost seemed like those men were soulless. I wonder why...oh well. I'm digressing again." he laughed. "I'm sure Akutsu would be most pleased to _you_, prince." he added in a more sadistic tone.

Tezuka looked away. But really, he knew that he had no other choice. He'd have to go meet with Akutsu anyway. They were lost, low on supplies, and desperately needed a day of rest, even though he knew they could hardly afford to do so. Regrettably, he nodded for Sengoku to lead the way, and could hear Haseo snickering behind him.

---[---

It was quite fair to say that Akutsu hadn't been pleased to have Tezuka walk into the same room as him. It's not like they were friends, or even acquaintances. There was a mild dislike for each other, but no hate. It was hard to explain what kind of relationship the two had.

The only reason the prince of Yamabuki and the prince of Seigaku knew each other was their parents. The parents had met at a gathering and hit it off immediately. The trip to Yamabuki the previous year had been an attempt by Tezuka and Akutsu's parents to get them to be friends. Thanks to their different backgrounds, ideals and personalities, they themselves hadn't hit it off like their parents. They were too different, and not in a good way. The only reason they withstood the week with each other was their parents. Otherwise, Tezuka would have left for home within the first two hours.

They just weren't compatible to be friends, it was as simple as that.

"I didn't think I'd see you again for a long time." Akutsu smirked, obviously enjoying the fact that Tezuka had shown up unannounced and in need. But despite the fact that he enjoyed that, he didn't enjoy the company. Never, he vowed as Tezuka left a year ago, would he enjoy the company. And now he had Tezuka's own little brigade as company? No, he would definitely not enjoy this.

But he wasn't so coldhearted that he'd turn away a person in need. No, despite the fact that his council thought of him as a tyrant, and his knights thought him too cold, he would never turn someone away that desperately needed help. And he could tell by the worn look on Tezuka's face that the prince needed help.

So he offered his services for a day, since that's what was requested of him. The group would stay the night, and in the morning, they would be given supplies that were needed and they would be off, hopefully never to be seen here again.

And Akutsu never even learned the why. He didn't care, to be blunt. It didn't matter to him. Besides, why should he care?

---[---

"So, did you room with me just to ask another question?" Haseo smirked.

The prince had chosen to room with Haseo this time, instead of with Fuji. He could tell that the decision confused Fuji, and the knight may even think things that were far off tangent. But he needed to ask questions. He just wasn't sure what to ask.

"Is that so wrong?" Tezuka replied, rather starkly.

"No." Haseo laughed. "But I think your knight might be a little envious."

Tezuka turned to glance at Haseo. "I don't think so."

"Really?" Haseo smirked. "I saw that look he gave me when you said you'd room with me this time. I'm not completely oblivious."

"I saw that too." Tezuka sighed. "But I don't think that was a look of envy. At least, not for Fuji." Tezuka walked over to a bed, since Haseo refused to choose first, and sat down. Following suit, Haseo moved to the only other bed in the room and sprawled out on it. He yawned, waiting for Tezuka to speak.

"I don't think he trusts you quite yet."

The words shocked Haseo, in the very least. He became very attentive, choosing to sit up and stare at Tezuka. Haseo had never been in such a position. Everyone had always trusted him from the beginning.

"You seem surprised." Tezuka said, unsure if Haseo was or not.

"I've never _not_ been trusted before. It's weird." he chose to answer. "I mean, look at everyone else in our party. None of them are skeptical of me, are they?"

Tezuka nodded. "They just trust you." he replied. "But Fuji is different. He has a job to do. If he fails, he practically lets down an entire kingdom. It just takes awhile for him to trust someone. And after the whole Aihara is Atobe thing, it might take longer for him to trust you."

"That's right. Atobe was staying at Seigaku before it was attacked, right?" Haseo asked.

Tezuka nodded again. "He had everyone fooled. I'm thinking that Fuji might be disappointed with himself, only for the fact that he trusted Atobe beforehand." Tezuka decided to lay down. "He doesn't want a repeat of Atobe. So he's a little less trusting of everyone."

"So what about this kid we're saving?" Haseo asked. He still didn't know who he was, or why he was so important. He hadn't been paying much attention when Rachel explained everything. But he didn't really care.

Tezuka eyed him. "What about him?" he asked, a tone quieter than before.

"Does your knight trust him?"

Tezuka didn't reply. He knew the answer, and it was no. Fuji did not trust Echizen Ryoma. But only because the two had never met before. And Tezuka still wasn't sure what was to happen if everyone found out _why_ Tezuka wanted to go and rescue someone he 'just played tennis with'.

Haseo left the topic like that. He took the silence as a no, but also as an 'I don't want to talk about that now' answer.

Tezuka shoved the thought to the back of his mind. He didn't want to think about it, let alone talk about it. He turned on his side, trying to ignore the thoughts that the question brought upon him.

Both sat in silence, and the questions surrounding Rachel went ignored.

---[---

The sky was bright and the clouds were sparse across it. The sun was shining high and dominant. It was beautiful. But it was all lost on Tezuka.

He sat up, confused for a moment. He was back in that field, the one Rachel had said was 'all in his head'. He was alone, and desperately wishing that Rachel or someone was here to help explain things. As their escapade continued, things just kept getting more complicated.

Sighing, he stood up and looked around. The flowers went on forever, and he vaguely wondered why this was all in his head. He'd never been anywhere even remotely like this.

He turned around. Up on top of a hill was a tree, and he could clearly see that someone was laying beneath it. And he had a very good idea on who it was.

He slowly made his way up the small hill. He looked down and tried to differentiate the types of flowers. There were so many different types. But they mostly consisted of either a light blue or a deep purple. He stopped when he came upon a brown, wilted flower.

He kneeled down, feeling dejected at the sight of the single dead flower amongst the field of live ones. It was out of place, he thought, but he didn't have the courage to pick it from it's place amongst the rest. He reached out to touch it, and it did something miraculous. It suddenly straightened up and regained color.

Tezuka's eyes went wide in surprise and he stood, still staring down at the flower. It was a pure white color, the only one he could see in the field. He suddenly looked up towards the tree and sprinted to the top of the hill. He stopped completely a few feet away from the one laying beneath the tree.

He was sleeping, looking completely peaceful. Tezuka almost didn't want to disturb him in any way, but he knew that he had to. It was a dream anyway.

He took a careful step forward. He didn't know why he was being cautious, but he thought that it probably had something to do with the creature from before. He didn't want to be fooled again.

He kneeled down when he reached the other, so that his face was hovering above his. He stayed still for the longest time, just looking down at the other.

The other suddenly opened his eyes and it took them each a few moments to recognize each other. Finally, the other smiled. He raised a hand and touched Tezuka's cheek. "Kunimitsu." he spoke, almost sounding weak.

"Ryoma." Tezuka replied, far to fast. He was becoming emotional. He wanted nothing more than for this dream to never end, for him to never wake up. He wished that he and Ryoma could stay here forever, in this field of flowers.

A tear fell from Ryoma's eyes and Tezuka immediately wiped it away. But more followed that tear, and Tezuka had no idea why. Ryoma made an attempt to wipe away his tears with his free hand, since the other was currently attached to Tezuka's cheek, but it was a vain effort. Ryoma couldn't stop crying.

But all the while, he hadn't stopped smiling either.

By now, Tezuka was completely confused. He was desperately trying to figure things out and his mind was running in circles. He didn't know anything, and couldn't come up with a simple explanation as to why Ryoma would be crying.

"I miss you."

The words came from Ryoma's mouth, Tezuka was sure. He saw the boy's mouth move. But it was completely out of context, and his tone had changed dramatically. When Ryoma spoke his name earlier, he sounded extremely happy. Tired, but happy. But now he sounded like he was crying.

"You don't have to miss me anymore." Tezuka said, smiling, trying to reassure the boy that everything was fine now. "I'm right here."

Ryoma closed his eyes, still crying and smiling, and shook his head. "I wish you'd wake up." The sad, crying tone was there.

Tezuka knew that Ryoma was hurting, but he didn't know why. He didn't know anything. "I don't want to wake up." he whispered. "Not if you're only in my dreams."

Suddenly, Ryoma sat up. He was still crying, but he wasn't smiling any longer. Tezuka watched the boy closely. He wasn't looking at Tezuka anymore, he was staring straight ahead of him.

"Let's go, Ryoma."

A hand was placed on his shoulder, but it wasn't Tezuka's. Ryoma looked down for a moment, before nodding and looking up to the owner of the hand.

"I wish he'd wake up."

"Fuji." Tezuka whispered. "What...?" He was confused more than ever now. He was certain that Ryoma and Fuji had never met before. So how is it they know each other? Was it just his dreams playing tricks on him now?

Fuji looked down at Ryoma with a melancholic face. He seemed to understand Ryoma's pain, but Tezuka didn't. He couldn't.

Tezuka looked away from them both and looked towards the field of flowers instead. More of the field had corroded away. The flowers on the hill and surrounding it were all dead.

All except the single white flower that sprang to life moments before.

---[---

The light bothered him. More than anything, the light bothered him. Slowly, he opened his eyes. The room was still dark. He found the light to be simply part of his imagination.

Fuji sighed. He wasn't sure why, but the fact that Tezuka decided to room with a total stranger bothered him. It was bothering him so much that he couldn't sleep. And he was hallucinating.

He sat up, making sure that Inui was still sound asleep. He got up and headed for the door after a few minutes of watching the alchemist sleep.

He wasn't sure where he was going, but he knew that he couldn't fall asleep. He thought that maybe he should spy on Haseo and Tezuka, but Tezuka was smart enough to figure out if the knight was spying. So that in itself wasn't a smart idea. Tezuka would only reprimand him for it later.

So instead he walked around. He noted little knickknacks about the Yamabuki castle that a normal guest wouldn't have noticed. For example, every single country flag was different. It was nothing too big that would stand out, but there was some small, minute detail that only Fuji's sharp eyes could catch. He was certain that their prince knew, too, but didn't say a thing.

'Yamabuki is a strange place.' the knight thought to himself as he walked on.

From that point on, he ignored the flags. They were annoying anyway. There was really nothing for him to do so late at night. No one was awake at this hour, not even servants. It seemed as if he was the only one awake in the castle.

But he was wrong.

At this moment, Fuji happened to run into someone as they both tried to turn the same corner at the same time, going opposite directions no less. The someone dropped a few books upon impact. Fuji quickly muttered words of apologies and kneeled down to help retrieve the fallen books.

"Ah, gomen." the stranger said sheepishly. "I guess I should have been watching where I was going. But I thought it'd be safe, since I was the only one wandering the halls this late. As it turns out, I was wrong."

Fuji smiled and handed over the books. "I could say the same." he replied. He looked down at one of the books. "Cooking?" he inquired upon reading a title: _Cooking Through the Ages_.

The stranger blushed and placed a hand behind his head sheepishly. "A-ah. I'm just a small time sushi chef." he explained. "It dawned on me at this ungodly hour that I should broaden my horizons, so to speak."

Fuji laughed slightly, but extended a hand. "Fuji Syuusuke."

The stranger took his hand and shook it, replying "Kawamura Takashi."

---[---

"So you're leaving then?" Akutsu asked, not bothering to look at Tezuka but instead one of his chefs that happened to be standing in the room. Akutsu had a smirk plastered on his face.

"Aa." Tezuka replied. "Your help is greatly appreciated." he continued, bowing slightly. Behind him, the rest of his party merely looked at the young prince of Yamabuki.

"Ne, he's kinda...scary, isn't he?" Kikumaru whispered to Momoshiro, who was standing to his right.

Momoshiro nodded. "Ah, he's got this look on his face..."

"Eiji!" Oishi reprimanded as quietly as possible. He didn't want to make an enemy out of Yamabuki simply for such a remark.

Kikumaru and Momoshiro looked away from each other, but made sure not to make eye contact with anyone else in the room. Kaido merely hissed at his forced companion's actions.

"What was that, Mamushi?" Momoshiro whispered, knowing that Tezuka and Akutsu were having an important conversation.

"Fssh, I didn't say anything, baka!"

"Oi, oi." Fuji whispered to them both. "This can wait, can't it?"

The two rivals glared at each other, then went absolutely silent and stared straight ahead, deciding to focus on the conversation at hand.

"Take that one with you." Akutsu was saying.

Momoshiro raised an eyebrow. Take who...? He followed where Akutsu was pointing to a young chef standing off to the side, a shocked expression on his face.

"A-Akutsu!" the chef exclaimed.

"Why...?" Tezuka was beginning to ask, not understanding.

"Let's just say it'll make us even." Akutsu explained. "He's been feeling restless and it's been getting on my nerves. Besides, who in your group can cook? Mildly well, anyway." Akutsu asked, yawning slightly. "Going with you is probably best."

Tezuka turned back to everyone, as if to ask for approval. Momoshiro and Kikumaru just smiled and shrugged at the prince, giving their okay. Oishi smiled, Inui nodded, Kaido hissed, the three giving their consent. Fuji stared at the chef for a moment, a frown on his face, but then he smiled at Tezuka, finally saying he didn't mind. Haseo was looking at the walls, apparently uninterested.

"There appears to be no objections." Tezuka explained, turning back to Akutsu and the chef.

"Right then." Akutsu smirked. "Kawamura, you're going with them, then."

---[---

An hour went by, and Kawamura was finally ready to join their party. He only brought along the essentials for a chef, well, a sushi chef at any rate.

Momo and Eiji immediately took a liking to the chef. Once they were on their way again, this time towards Rikkaidai, they bombarded the chef with questions.

"What's it like to be sushi chef?" - Momo

"Where do you get the fish, nya! There's no ocean near Yamabuki!" - Eiji

"Are you and Prince Akutsu close?" - Momo

"Can we call you Taka san instead of Kawamura?" - Eiji

"Isn't your prince scary looking?" - both

Kawamura was extremely lost by the time the last question was asked. He was still trying to comprehend the first, after all. What was it like to be a fish? No, wait. That was wrong.

"Saa, Momo, Eiji. You're going to overwhelm him if you ask too much at once." Fuji said, turning his head to look at the three.

Both sighed dramatically and apologized. Kawamura then proceeded to announce it wasn't necessary and tried his best to answer the questions asked. Fuji chuckled at the three.

"Do you know him, Fuji?" Tezuka asked. His dream from the night before still weighed heavily on his mind, but he didn't have the audacity to ask Fuji if he knew Echizen Ryoma. This would have to do for now.

Fuji glanced up at Tezuka. He smiled. "Aa, we met last night." Fuji explained. "Well, I should say this morning. I was restless so I started to wander around. We just happened to bump into each other, literally."

"Aa." was all Tezuka replied with. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like Fuji had betrayed him somehow. In all reality, he was certain his knight and his lover had never actually met. And if they had, the meeting had probably been so brief that neither remembered the encounter.

If Fuji had met Ryoma, why would he hide it from Tezuka?

Tezuka sighed. He was thinking far too into things. What did it matter, if the two knew each other? It wasn't as if they had a duty to tell Tezuka everything. It really was none of his business.

"Ne."

Tezuka looked to his left. Everyone else was occupied with Kawamura telling tales of Yamabuki's prince, so it appeared Haseo was taking the opportunity to talk to him.

"It appears my comments last night touched on a fickle subject." Haseo muttered.

Tezuka raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

Haseo sighed, giving Tezuka an exasperated look. "Are you kidding me? You've been spaced out since this morning. If it's not that, then what?"

Tezuka was confused for all of a moment. He had become so caught up with his dream that he forgot the conversation he had with Haseo prior to falling asleep.

But now that Haseo had brought the topic up again, he was going to worry about that now too.

Fuji had always been wary with people, before the Atobe incident that started this escapade. He had never straight out trusted someone before, to Tezuka's knowledge. He knew there probably was a time, but something horribly wrong nearly or did happen, which changed Fuji's outlook on people (with this topic, he could only think that it was St. Rudolph's Mizuki, but he had no proof on the matter).

It had never really occurred to him until Haseo brought it up the night before; how would Fuji react to Ryoma? He understood he was only walking in circles. He also understood that it would do him no good to keep thinking about it like he was.

He sighed again, but then realized Haseo was still waiting for answer. Tezuka looked back at Haseo and smiled. The white haired boy had an impatient look on his face.

"Well, it's that now." Tezuka said. He sighed, but still smiled. "I had completely forgotten about that conversation until you brought it back up."

Haseo raised an eyebrow at the prince. "So what was bothering you before, if you don't mind my asking."

Tezuka smiled. "Nothing really. My dreams are just playing tricks on me, I guess."

"What?" Haseo asked, not understanding.

Suddenly, Kikumaru latched himself onto Haseo, surprising both men who were in such a serious conversation before.

"Nya, Seo chan!" the red head smiled. "Where did you come from?"

"What?" Haseo repeated, completely ignoring the nickname. "Where is this coming from?"

"Well, Fuji said it was odd that I was asking Taka san all sorts of questions. When I told him it was because I had never met him before, I realized I hadn't asked you any questions." Kikumaru explained. "Nya, it didn't seem fair!"

"Well, it's stupid to ask me now." Haseo sighed.

"No it's not." Momoshiro said, magically appearing next to Haseo, causing the latter to jump slightly in surprise. "Why would it be stupid?"

"It just is." Haseo said, walking at a faster pace to leave the two behind.

"But we don't know anything about you, nya!!" Kikumaru whined. "You probably know more about us than we do about you!"

"That's a given." Haseo said, shrugging the allegations off. "Besides, I'm not that important."

"Saa, you can't go around saying things like that, you can't." Momo sighed.

"Nya! Just answer some questions!" Kikumaru demanded.

"They aren't going to let you off that easily, Haseo." Inui chimed in. "There's a 100 chance that they'll continue to pester you until we reach Rikkaidai. The chance that they'll stop once we reach Rikkaidai is 2. And that two percent is being nice."

Haseo let out an exasperated 'fine'. So far, he'd realized that Inui was always right. There was no challenging his data. "But I won't answer just any question. If I don't like it, we skip it."

"You might get pestered with too many questions then, Haseo." Fuji smiled. "Why don't we limit it to one question for everyone here?"

Everyone nodded, happy with the suggestion, even Haseo. Tezuka just looked off and acted like he didn't care. Besides, he'd already asked Haseo enough.

"Right! So who goes first?"

The simple question posed a bit of a problem. It probably wasn't best if three people asked three different questions at once. Haseo would most definitely get confused and direct an answer to the asker of the wrong question.

Fuji smiled, and Tezuka immediately turned around. It was no ordinary smile. He did not want any part of whatever it was Fuji was about to suggest.

"Why not play rock paper scissors to decide? We could have a three way tournament." Fuji suggested. Tezuka thought it sounded quite reasonable for the smile plastered on the knight's face, but when Tezuka turned around to see what was going on, he noticed that the knight was glancing to _Inui_ with that same sadistic smile.

Tezuka shuddered and turned around.

Apparently though, Kikumaru and Momoshiro hadn't noticed the look. Tezuka thought that for a second, Inui's glasses had a strange glint to them. But why would Inui agree to do that, when he was going to be one of the participants?

Inui opened his mouth to suggest something, but was quickly cut off.

"No way. Do not involve any of your juices in this!" Haseo yelled, apparently the only one other than Tezuka to catch the glance. "I'm not going to carry anyone to Rikkaidai."

Inui frowned and looked completely dejected at getting his idea (well, Fuji's idea) shot down before it even being said. Nonetheless, he sighed and decided to go along with the rock paper scissors contest anyway.

It was decided that Momo and Inui would duel first, and then the winner would play Kikumaru in the finals.

"Rock, paper...SCISSORS!" the two yelled, throwing down their fists at the same time.

Both played scissors.

Momoshiro glared at Inui. "I can't lose, I can't." he said.

"The data is telling me otherwise, Momoshiro." Inui smirked, glasses glinting. Tezuka wondered mildly why he was surrounded by such people.

"Rock, paper...SCISSORS!" the two yelled again, both throwing their fists down at the same time again.

This time, Momoshiro chose rock, and Inui chose to throw down the same pair of scissors from the last round.

"This is illogical..." Inui breathed out, barely audible for anyone to hear.

Momoshiro smiled. "Was the data really telling you otherwise, Inui?" he smirked. Inui didn't reply to the comment.

"Well, it appears you're playing me now, nya!" Kikumaru smirked. Tezuka sighed. He didn't understand why they were all getting so worked up over a simple child's game.

"You're going down, just like Inui did!" Momoshiro shot back, a smirk in place of his usual smile.

Both stood facing each other in a ready stance. The two of them glared at each other for a few moments, as if trying to read the other's movements and plans.

"Rock, paper... SCISSORS!" they yelled.

And paper was facing a rock. Momoshiro and Kikumaru looked at each other, surprised the round was over so quickly.

"Nya! Momo!" Kikumaru exclaimed. "I can't believe you won!"

"Ha!" Momoshiro exclaimed just as loud as Kikumaru. "I get to ask the first question!"

Haseo sighed, and mumbled something under his breath. Tezuka seemed to be the only one who caught it, and Haseo's exasperated expression at saying it.

Well, Tezuka knew what his question was going to be.

---[---

---[---

---[---

ha, well, this chapter took me so much longer, but i was working on photo album at the same time, haha. there's a few things i want to change in photo album, so i might repost that later, but not now, since i want to mainly focus on escapade for the time being. i can have such ADD moments...i really can't focus on one thing for too long, which i've found to be one of the reasons it takes me so long to write a chapter...but i'm getting it done, slowly but surely! i thank everyone who has the patience to wait for me!

mata to de!


	7. Chapter 7

ah, well, this is extremely late, and i'm really sorry! my life totally got busier, so i don't have much time! but i'm on spring break, well for the next couple days anyway, so i was crunching away, typing another chapter! i don't quite know when i'll get the chance to do another chapter, but this story is almost done anyway, so i'll try to be quick with the next few! but that doesn't seem likely, until summer vacation...but if you'll all be patient until then, i should have the story finished by june! (if i'm lucky anyway...haha. perhaps july at the rate i'm going)

thanks for all the wonderful reviews and i'll try my hardest to get another chapter up within a month so i'm not keeping everyone waiting! thanks for being patient minna san!

Chapter seven

Haseo sighed again. He was currently waiting for Momoshiro to ask his one question. Unfortunately for Haseo, he stupidly agreed to answer one question from everyone.

"Okay!" Momo smirked. "I've got the perfect question! How do you and Rachel know each other?"

"Oh, that's a good question, Momo chan!" Kikumaru smiled, looking away from Inui who he was playing rock paper scissors with to see who asks the second questions. So far, it'd been a series of ties.

"What do you mean by 'how'?" Haseo asked.

"Well, like, when'd you meet, where, that sort of stuff." Momoshiro explained.

"Oh." Haseo said. "That's easy. We met when we were super little. We lived down the street from each other, so we practically grew up together."

"Yes!" Kikumaru exclaimed. "I get the next question!" Inui glared down at his defeated paper. "Where did you and Rachel grow up? Like, what country, city?"

"Mac Anu." Haseo answered in a monotone voice.

"Ooh, isn't that in Sekai?" Kikumaru said. "Isn't Mac Anu one of the five cities that make up the whole country? It's the largest, isn't it?"

"That's three more questions that I don't have to answer." Haseo said in a spiteful tone.

"Yes, to all of your questions." Inui said, satisfied at being next to ask a question. "My turn. What kind of relationship do you and Rachel have?"

"Strictly friends." Haseo answered quickly. "Strictly friends."

Fuji chuckled. "Perhaps a bit more than 'strictly friends', Haseo?" he smirked.

"Are you going to count that as your question?" Haseo shot back with malice.

Fuji sighed. "No, but I was hoping you wouldn't notice that."

Haseo sighed again. Why was it he agreed to this again? He wasn't sure anymore. He probably just thought it'd all go away faster. But this was getting more irritating by the second (not to mention embarrassing. Why would they ask a stupid question like that?).

"So who's next?" Haseo sighed. "No one chose to play for the fourth question." he pointed out.

"I'll go." Fuji smiled. "Unless anyone else wants to."

Fuji looked to Tezuka, who nodded for him to continue on. Fuji's gaze wandered to Kawamura, who only shook his head violently, as if to say no. Then Fuji went on to Oishi, who gave him a look that said to ask on.

"Well then. It appears I'm unopposed." Fuji smiled, glancing back to Haseo. "As for my question," A deliberate pause. "is there anyone in your life you would consider your significant other?" Another deliberate pause, as Haseo flinched. Fuji smirked. "In short, a lover?"

Haseo immediately went red at the question. "T-too personal!" he stuttered out. "Ask something else."

"I'll take that as a yes." Fuji smiled. "I could always ask _who_ for my second question." the tensai smirked. "but I think I'm alright for the time being. I'll still count that as my question."

"How nice of you." Haseo growled out. He did not like this turn of events. "Who's next?" Haseo said without much emotion in his voice.

Haseo looked to Kawamura, the newest member of the group. He wondered what kind of question he would ask, since he had just joined the merry crew. Kawamura, sensing that he was under the spotlight for the moment, shook his head no, and muttered out something along the lines of 'I won't ask anything'. Haseo didn't mind. It was one less question he had to answer.

Haseo's gaze then wandered to Oishi. The man blushed under his gaze, looked away, and defiantly said "I don't feel right asking anything.", much to his partner's disappointment.

"But Oishi!!" Kikumaru nearly whined. But then, the redhead smirked, trying to find the loophole around Oishi's not asking a question. "Do I--" But he was abruptly interrupted.

"NO." Haseo said flatly. "It's one question for each person. If he doesn't want to ask me anything, then that's his choice."

Fuji sighed, seeing Kikumaru's pout. "He has a point, Eiji."

Kikumaru pouted in Fuji's direction. Oishi put a hand on his partner's shoulder and shook his head when Kikumaru looked at him. The redhead sighed, but didn't push the matter any further.

Deciding that the issue was dealt with, Haseo turned his attention to Tezuka. The two stared at each other for a few moments before one finally talked.

"You have anything to ask?" Haseo said.

Tezuka continued to stare at Haseo, knowing that everyone's eyes were on them. "Yes." he answered, to everyone's surprise. "Do you know Atobe, on a personal level?"

Haseo cocked an eyebrow at the randomness of the question. But he nonetheless considered the question. "I guess you could say that. I mean, not too personal but eh." Haseo shrugged. "Close enough."

Everyone stared at Haseo, shocked at how easy he answered the question.

"But what makes you ask that?" Haseo asked back, his voice calm without the annoyed sound to it. "I mean, compared to the previous questions, it's kind of random."

"Aa." Tezuka said, trying to think of a way to explain it. "Earlier you said something about Atobe loving these types of things to make decisions."

Fuji chuckled. "That is true. We'd have to play the game whenever we had something to decide. It was amusing, for the most part." Fuji explained as Haseo listened intently.

Fuji and Haseo's eyes locked for a few moments, while Fuji's smile turned into a smirk and Haseo grew very afraid of it.

"So, Haseo." Fuji started. "Is this significant other of yours Atobe?"

"What?" Haseo nearly choked, as Kikumaru echoed the word.

"Ew, you and Atobe!" Kikumaru laughed.

Tezuka scowled, not believing the turn of events. That wasn't what he was implying. Oishi was trying to get Kikumaru to stop laughing, while Kawamura took up to asking Fuji who Atobe was. Inui was scribbling notes in his notebook (actually, Tezuka was certain he hadn't stopped since the rock paper scissors incident) as Kaido and Momoshiro struck up a fight over nothing.

"Really?" a familiar voice called through the exasperating mess. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to find Rachel in the middle of their path, blocking their way. Haseo blushed the moment he noticed her. "Seo chan, since when have you been cheating on--"

The statement was never finished, as Haseo immediately placed both his hands over Rachel's mouth.

"Don't say anything else that will get them going." he said, sounding completely exhausted.

"Haha, I was only joking." she smiled. "I wouldn't have finished the sentence anyway."

"Rachel." Tezuka said, gaining the mage's attention.

"Why are you here?" Inui finished the thought.

Rachel's smile widened. "I have business in Rikkai." she explained. "So I thought I'd catch up with all of you until you get there!"

Tezuka and Fuji looked at each other, as if they had forgotten that's where they were headed. They then looked up at the sky and the sun's position.

"We should hurry." Tezuka sighed. They'd wasted too much time asking Haseo questions. The day had been wasted away.

"We won't get to Rikkai before dark at this rate." Fuji sighed. "I'd rather not spend another night on the roadside."

It was near dark and the smell of twilight was in the air as the group reached Rikkai. Rachel yawned as they walked through a bustling crowd, as if she dreaded what she needed to do here.

Fuji eyed her cautiously. He wondered why she was here now, since the last time she showed up, Tezuka had nearly lost himself. She always seemed to show up right before something horrible happened, during this journey and before. The knight wondered if something bad would happen here too.

Suddenly, Rachel stopped, turned on her heel, and smiled at the group. "Saa, I'll leave you all here then."

"That sure was fast." Haseo scoffed, earning himself a glare from Rachel.

"Why so soon Rachel?" Oishi asked.

"Ah, I have to be in the right place at the right time or else I'll miss him." Rachel explained, dropping her glare to smile at Oishi. "I have the best contacts in the world, but they're very fickle about where and when they'll meet someone." she laughed.

Haseo stared at Rachel much like Fuji had been just a few moments before. But he quickly scoffed, turned his head, paying attention to something else he found much more interesting than Rachel's ramblings.

"Will we catch up with you later then?" Inui asked. "Before you leave."

Rachel thought for a moment. "I guess." she said. "You're all going to the inn now, right?" she asked. Tezuka nodded, as well as Fuji and Oishi. She smiled again. "Okay. I'll come by when I'm done."

Rachel confirmed the plans and then walked off.

"Nya, she's so mysterious." Kikumaru whined.

"Who is she?" Kawamura asked, and everyone turned to stare at him. "Wh-what?" he asked, and everyone turned away. They had forgotten he wasn't from Seigaku. He wouldn't know who Rachel was.

"She's the local mage, in Seigaku." Fuji chuckled. "She's a bit...whimsical. No one can really know what she's thinking or what she's going to do next."

"Oh." Kawamura said.

"I wonder who she's meeting." Inui mumbled. "Perhaps I should follow her."

"Nya!" Kikumaru exclaimed, hearing Inui. "Let's, let's!"

"Eiji!" Oishi reprimanded.

Fuji chuckled. "Only if you want to anger her." he said, and the other two completely pushed the stalking thoughts out of their minds.

"Let's head to the inn." Tezuka said, gaining everyone's attention.

Fuji nodded. "Let's."

"You know, if we keep this up, it'll give off unwanted impressions on the others." Haseo smirked, knowing full well that the statement was true as well as that the prince didn't care.

"That's fine." Tezuka replied, just as Haseo thought he would. "They can think what they want."

Currently, the two were walking down the streets of Rikkai alone. They had left almost immediately after they booked their rooms at the inn. The two hadn't said anything much, only saying enough to decide rooms and roommates. Upon leaving, Haseo could feel Fuji's stare on him.

"Saa, since you've said it, I've been uneasy around Fuji." Haseo sighed, remembering the first glare he received at Yamabuki.

Tezuka chuckled. "It can't be helped, I suppose." he said. "You're just going to have to get over it."

"Che. Easier said than done, I'm sure." Haseo mumbled. Haseo turned to smirk at Tezuka. "So..." His eyes widened as he noticed something off in the distance, passed Tezuka and in the crowd of Rikkai citizens. He paused, losing his smirk and causing Tezuka to give him a questioning glance. He looked back to Tezuka, trying to quickly think of something to say. "I'll...I'll be right back." he said, running off into the crowd.

"W-wait!" Tezuka yelled, extending a hand after Haseo as if it were going to stop him. Tezuka stood there for a few moments, trying to figure out what it was Haseo was after before finally giving chase to the white haired boy.

Haseo ran as if his life depended on it. He bumped into people as they ran, barely hearing their reprimands as he ran passed. He squeezed through couples, uncaring for their glares and yells. He ran passed and didn't care who he hit or who he bumped into, because he had to catch up.

He turned a corner into a barren alleyway. There was nothing other than worn-out boxes and week-old trash. He looked straight down the alleyway and he saw a figure walking the length of the alleyway. He started to run faster than before in order to catch him.

"Ovan!"

The figure stopped and turned to look behind him. There was a smile plastered on his face as Haseo ran faster to catch him.

"It's been awhile, Haseo."

Tezuka sighed, looking around the hundreds of faces for Haseo's. He couldn't believe that he would just run off like that. Whatever it was he saw, it must have been important. At least, Tezuka hoped it was.

He looked around again and jumped when a hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Lose something?"

"Fuji." Tezuka breathed. "Don't scare me like that."

Fuji chuckled. "It's not like I meant to." the knight smirked. "But really, did you lose something? You seem lost here."

Tezuka looked around once more. "I was just with Haseo, but he ran off suddenly. He seemed a little spooked."

"Haseo?" Fuji frowned. "He ran past here not too long ago. He seemed to be in a real hurry."

"I'm just wondering what it was he saw."

Fuji smiled. Tezuka's protective side was taking over again. It happened every now and then, without Tezuka actually realizing it. Unbeknownst to himself, he was actually very sentimental.

Fuji pointed off towards an alley. "He ran that way, I think. Do you want to go look for him?"

Tezuka stared at the alley for a few moments when a thought hit him. Why would he worry so for someone he just met? Haseo would probably think it was strange, and he probably wasn't in any trouble or danger to begin with. But that didn't really matter to Tezuka.

He turned to Fuji and nodded. "Ah, let's go."

Rachel sat at a table in the bar. She huffed, waiting for her contact. He was usually very reliable with meetings, but he was late today. She could only think of one reason why.

She looked around, not seeing him or anyone else she knew. Then again, she didn't really expect to. If her suspicions were correct, then her contact might not show up at all.

She sighed this time, wondering why he would call her out in the first place.

Just as Rachel was diving deep into her thoughts, a man stood next to her table. "This seat taken?" he chuckled, moving to sit down.

"Did you run into him?" Rachel asked immediately.

The man chuckled again. "Always quick to the point." he said.

"You're avoiding the question." she scowled. "And you're such a hard person to deal with, I have to be. If I messed around with you, we'd get nowhere. Well, I'd get nowhere."

The man chuckled again, smiling at her. "Well, then. Let's get straight to the point. I don't have much time to spend here."

Haseo sighed, standing alone in the alleyway. He glared at the ground, with thousands of questions racing through his mind, each one wanting an answer.

"I don't understand." he whispered, thinking that maybe Ovan could still hear him. "I don't understand what you're saying, Ovan!"

His voice echoed in the alley. He looked about him, glaring as he did so, trying to see if he could find Ovan. He couldn't and he knew that he wouldn't.

Ovan had left, and Haseo was positive that he wasn't coming back anytime soon.

He jumped and turned around when a hand was placed on his shoulder. He hoped it was Ovan, but found Fuji standing behind him, with a hand on his shoulder.

"Something wrong?" Fuji asked. "You seem jumpy."

Haseo turned from him and Tezuka, who he noticed was standing close by. "It's nothing." he replied.

"Then why did you run off?" Tezuka asked.

Haseo turned to look at him. "A case of mistaken identity."

Fuji and Tezuka exchanged glances that Haseo couldn't see. They both knew that wasn't the case, despite the fact they hardly knew Haseo to begin with.

Haseo started to walk off as the two had a silent conversation with each other. Both dropped their stares to look at Haseo, who seemed to sense their gazes upon him.

"I'll...see you at the inn."

"I left everyone else at the bar." Fuji explained to Tezuka. "If you want company, they should all still be there."

Tezuka nodded. "Where are you going?"

The two stood at a corner. Fuji had just opted to leave Tezuka's company, and Tezuka was unsure of what he should do. There were plenty of options, but the one he most wanted he could do. There was no telling where Haseo could have gone.

Fuji smiled. "Just somewhere quiet. I'll meet you back at the inn later on."

The two said their quick goodbyes and headed their separate ways. It wouldn't be long before they saw each other again anyway.

Tezuka walked down the street, heading for the bar. It was half a block from the inn, so he was certain that if he didn't want company, he could just go to the inn. Besides, he was surprised that Fuji opted to leave everyone at the bar. Someone was bound to get drunk.

He sighed, thinking of all the possibilities as he entered the building. It wasn't that busy, and he could clearly see where everyone was, seeing as they chose the table close to the front door. But that wasn't what caught his attention.

It was Rachel; she was sitting at a table near the back with another man. Rachel had her back to him, but Tezuka could recognize the back of head anywhere. The man, though, he didn't recognize.

Fuji smiled and closed his eyes. He was glad that the outskirts of the forest met the outskirts of the town. It was nice here. Fresh air, green grass, nature. He usually didn't get a chance to just come outside and sit and relax. He was usually in the castle, waiting for something to happen.

He heard the snapping of a twig and his eyes shot open and he glared in the general direction of the sound. He placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, preparing himself for anything that could pop out.

A young man rushed out, heavily panting. He bumped into Fuji, who served as a blockade to stop him. The young man looked up, a blank look in his eyes but a scowl on his face. He turned around as two men walked out into the clearing, both armed with swords.

Fuji glared at the two, stepping in front of the young man. He kept his hand gripped tightly around the hilt of his sword, waiting for the other two to make the first move.

Tezuka slowly walked up to Rachel's table, ignoring whatever question Oishi had directed at him. As he got closer to the table, he could tell that whatever was being discussed, there was a difference of opinion. He could tell from Rachel's tone.

"That's it?" she asked as he approached.

He felt that he was intruding in a place he shouldn't, crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed. "Rachel?" he asked, standing a mere foot away.

Rachel jumped and turned to look at him, to his surprise. He'd never even seen her this worked up, let alone her being surprised by him.

"Tezuka." she whispered, then turned back to the man who stood.

It was now that Tezuka took in his appearance. He was older than him, that he was sure of. He had a deep blue hair color and wore an all white outfit. He was slender, extremely so. And Tezuka couldn't get over the fact he was wearing orange, circular sunglasses. They just seemed so odd and out of place.

"Ah, I've said what I've needed to, so I'll take my leave." the man said, much to Tezuka's surprise, although he wasn't sure why it surprised him.

"You still never answered my question." Rachel said, a scowl on her face, as the man walked passed her and Tezuka.

The man paused for a moment, eyeing her, before smiling. "Of course. We went straight to the point, remember?" he chuckled. "Besides, you already know the answer to that." he added, walking off towards the door.

"Ovan!" Rachel yelled, gaining his attention one last time. "I'm not going to sugar coat anything. I'm not going to lie."

"I didn't expect you to. It's fine."

Tezuka watched as Rachel huffed. "I don't understand you sometimes."

"Aren't you supposed to understand everything, So chan?" the man chuckled, officially leaving the building and his mark on Rachel.

Tezuka's eyes widened as he noticed Rachel's reaction to the sentence. By now, the rest of their party, excluding Haseo and Fuji, were standing by Tezuka, all watching Rachel.

Fuji sidestepped the taller man's attack, bringing his own sword down to take a slice at him. The blade collided with dirt. He had missed.

Fuji watched his assailants. The blue haired one wearing the glasses, the one he had just missed a few seconds before, seemed to be the one in control. He seemed to have a strategy going on in his head and his companion, the red headed and much shorter one, only followed his lead.

All he needed was to get one, and the other would practically be done. There was just one slight problem with that. The red head was fast and flexible. While Fuji was sparing with the taller one, the redhead could and would jump over the two of them to get behind Fuji for a quick attack. Luckily for Fuji, he too was fast and flexible.

Fuji watched them both, trying to figure out who would make the next move. Anything seemed possible with this couple.

"Are you...blushing?" Tezuka asked, for everyone apparently. Everyone was standing there, staring at Rachel as if she were some sort of foreign substance talking to them.

Rachel immediately covered her face with a hand, trying to hide the blush that everyone had already seen. "Damn. Only he can do that."

"Ne, what's 'so chan' Rachel?" Kikumaru asked.

Rachel sighed. "It's a long story, and I'm not telling." she said. "Where's Haseo?" This question was directed to Tezuka.

He almost scoffed at her. Of course she would know he was previously with him. Rachel knew everything. "I don't know. He walked off awhile ago."

"Ah, what a horrible time." Rachel said. Then, she glared at the door of the bar, as if it had insulted her. "Huh, I couldn't have been more right." And with that said, she rushed out of the bar, leaving everyone else confused.

"I suppose I should try and follow her." Tezuka sighed, not looking forward to another chase. He couldn't keep up with Haseo, how was he supposed to keep up with Rachel?

Haseo sighed, sitting on the edge of the building. He stared out at the horizon, which was growing darker by the hour. The sun was setting in the opposite direction.

Meeting with Ovan always seemed to make him feel very dejected. Ovan always seemed to talk in circles, always saying the same thing, but in different ways. And they were never said. They always had to be interpreted through something else.

Haseo sighed again, looking down, towards the forest. His eyes widened in shock as he noticed a few people sparing below.

'People still do that for fun?' he thought to himself. He watched for a few moments, finally realizing that one of the combatants was Fuji. "What?" he said aloud this time. "Why is Fuji...?" It took him a moment to realize that Fuji wasn't doing that for fun. He counted three others, with Fuji excluded.

"Two on one? That seems mighty unfair." he said, noticing that only two were attacking while the other stood off to the side. He stood up. He considered jumping from where he was joining the fight when his thoughts all collided at once, and he realized he knew the other three. At once, he jumped off the rooftop, and down into the clearing below.

Fuji blocked the redhead's attack, only to find himself completely unguarded. He looked to his left to see the taller one running towards him, sword held high and ready for an attack. He was about to jump backwards when something came in-between him and the taller's blade.

"Haseo?" he asked out loud, unaware the other had been nearby.

The other turned to acknowledge him, but said nothing. Haseo instead concentrated on the two in front of him. The third was still standing off to the side, and Haseo couldn't help but wonder why he was here...with them no less.

Fuji took this chance to compose himself. He needed to reassess the situation. He wasn't sure what was going on anymore. No one had said anything, it was just the first attack and the several that followed. Fuji was sure why he was being assaulted.

The blue haired man chose Haseo as his target and the two fought like there was no tomorrow. Fuji didn't get much of a chance to watch, since the redhead was immediately on him almost as soon as the other attacked Haseo.

Haseo managed to knock back his assailant while Fuji still had a bit of trouble with his. They managed to switch opponents in that quick second, but not before the redhead thrust his sword through Fuji's left shoulder. He let out a quiet grunt before ignoring the pain entirely. He glanced to Haseo when he got the chance to. Haseo seemed to manage fine with the redhead.

The fight went on like that for a few minutes, until the redhead took over completely. This confused both Haseo and Fuji to the point of dropping their guards for a mere second, during which the redhead took complete advantage of. They noticed moments too late that the other was casting a spell in their general direction.

Both fighters braced themselves for the impact of the blast and the redhead jumped out of the way. The impact never came though, and Rachel took over their fight. Haseo and Fuji exchanged glances, and then the both of them completely dropped their guards. They relaxed, now that they knew it wasn't their fight anymore. Rachel had taken hold of the fight, and they weren't going to get it back.

Suddenly, they stopped. The two assailants smirked, looked at each other, and then turned for the forest. The third one, the one who did nothing but distract Fuji in the beginning, soon followed, only without the smirk.

Rachel sighed, placing a hand on her hip. "That went better than I expected."

Haseo immediately rushed to her side and pointed to the darkness that was where the assailants had left. The two had a bit of a staring contest when Tezuka finally joined the three.

He was panting heavily, causing Fuji to ask if he was alright.

"I should be asking you that!" Tezuka nearly yelled. "What happened?"

Fuji looked down to his shoulder. He had completely forgotten about that wound. He had done such a good job in ignoring the pain, he forgot about it entirely. Fuji was about to answer the question, but Haseo interrupted.

"You're okay with that!" he yelled, completely exasperated by Rachel's uncaring for the situation. "Why was he-"

"What am I gonna do about it? There isn't much, without seriously harming the three of them." Rachel explained, using a dangerous tone. "And don't even ask that."

Tezuka and Fuji watched the exchange. "Uh, Rachel?" Tezuka spoke up after Rachel and Haseo had started another staring contest. "What's going on?"

His question went ignored.

"You met with Ovan?" Rachel said, asking Haseo instead of answering Tezuka's question.

This seemed to catch Haseo off guard, much to the surprise of Tezuka and Fuji. He had a dejected look on his face and he looked away from all of them. "Yes."

Well that explained why Haseo ran off earlier, Tezuka thought to himself. But it didn't answer much. "Did he tell you anything? I'm sure he did." Rachel ventured further.

Haseo sighed. "Nothing I understand."

"You never understand anything he says." Rachel sighed, finally turning to Tezuka and Fuji. "Haseo's coming with me."

The statement was completely random, everyone but Rachel thought so. "What?" the three of them said in unison, nearly scaring them if they hadn't been so confused by Rachel.

Rachel walked up to Fuji, finally noticing his wound. She held up a hand above it and her hand and the wound began to glow a pale green. "There's something I need him for. Well, thanks to Ovan, I need him for."

"Who's Ovan?" Fuji asked, stretching out his shoulder once Rachel was done curing it.

"It's a long story." Rachel said. "But Haseo's coming with me for now. You can have him back tomorrow."

Tomorrow came much earlier than Tezuka anticipated. He was too restless, since Hyotei's border was a mere hour long walk from where they were now. Ryoma was close, and he hoped the younger was alright.

He stood outside the inn, with everyone behind him. He watched as the sun rose, turning the sky odd shades of colors he had never noticed before.

He rose a hand and placed it over his heart. A feeling of great anxiety was rising in him. He knew exactly why.

Tezuka turned and looked at everyone. It seemed odd, without Haseo. But it would have to do.

Today, they entered Hyotei. Today, they walked into enemy territory. Today, Tezuka was closer to saving Ryoma.


End file.
